Robin Williams
The man of a thousand faces
Here's a time line of Robin Williams' life:
- 1951 - Born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1967 - After graduating high school, Williams enrolled at Claremont Men's College to study Political Science. Soon after he dropped out to pursue a career in acting. He studied theatre for three years at the College of Marin. Williams improvised a lot during his time in the drama program. His professor, James Dunn, believed Williams "was going to be something special".
- 1973 - In 1973, Williams attained a full scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York City. He left his junior year to move back to California. Williams started as a stand-up comedian in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid-1970s.
- 1975 - During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine. He was a casual friend of John Belushi, and the sudden death of Belushi, with the birth of his son Zak, prompted him to quit drugs and alcohol.
- 1977 - The first film role credited to Robin Williams is a small part in the 1977 low-budget comedy Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses?.
- 1978 - Williams married his first wife Valerie Velardi in June 1978, following a live-in relationship with comedian Elayne Boosler. Velardi and Williams met in 1976 while he was working as a bartender at a tavern in San Francisco
- 1979 - Robin Williams won his first Golden Globe Award for best TV actor in Mork and Mindy (1978)
- 1980 - Williams first starring role was in the children comedy film Popeye, directed by Robert Altman.
- 1983 - Williams and Velardi had their son Zachary Pym Williams.
- 1986 - Williams teamed up with Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal to found Comic Relief USA, an annual HBO television benefit devoted to the homeless, which has raised $80 million, as of 2014.
- 1988 - Williams and Velardi divorce.
- 1989 - On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces, Zachary's nanny, who was pregnant with his child. They had two children, Zelda Rae Williams (born 1989) and Cody Alan Williams (born 1991).
- 1998 - Robin Williams won an Oscar for best actor for his memorable performance in the film Good Will Hunting.
- 2009 - In March 2009, he was hospitalized due to heart problems. He postponed his one-man tour for surgery to replace his aortic valve. The surgery was completed on March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic.
- 2014 - Robin Williams was found dead at the age of 63 in his home in Paradise Bay, California. Williams' death was a suicide resulting from asphyxia due to hanging. Williams suffered from depression, anxiety, Lewy body dementia, and Parkinson's disease. No drugs or alcohol were involved.
"Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien, but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most, from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets."
-- 44th United States President Barack Obama