Born July 21, 1952 in Chicago Illinois

July 21, 1952

Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Laura McLaurim, was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a senior executive at Ford in charge of the Midwest area. Williams was raised in the Episcopal Church, though his mother practiced Christian Science, and he grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Marin County, California. He has two half-brothers: McLaurin and the late Todd (deceased August 14, 2007). While in California, Williams attended Redwood High School in Larkspur and grew up in the Marin County suburb of Tiburon. In Michigan, he attended Detroit Country Day School, an exclusive college-preparatory school, which boasts other famous alumni, including Steve Ballmer from Microsoft and Courtney Vance from Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

Williams has described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mom. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high school drama department. In high school, he won an award for "Most Likely To Not Succeed".

Robin Accepted to Juilliard

September 1, 1973

Williams has described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mom. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high school drama department. In high school, he won an award for "Most Likely To Not Succeed".

In 1973, Williams was one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class at Juilliard. Even more impressive, Williams, along with Christopher Reeve, were the only students accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year. Reeve and Williams had several classes together in which they were the only two students. In their dialects class, Williams had no trouble mastering all dialects quickly, whereas Reeve was more meticulous about it.

Williams's manic comedy did not impress all of his teachers, but his dramatic performances impressed everyone. Williams and Reeve developed a close friendship, and they remained good friends for the rest of Reeve's life. Williams visited Reeve after the horseback riding accident that paralyzed him from the neck down and cheered him up by pretending to be an eccentric Russian doctor (similar to his role in Nine Months). Williams claimed that he was there to perform a colonoscopy. Reeve stated that he laughed for the first time since the accident and knew that life was going to be okay

First Marriage: Valerie Velardi

June 4, 1978 - December 1, 1988

His first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he has one child, Zachary Pym (Zak) (born April 11, 1983). The marriage ended in 1988

Mork and Minday: Williams' big break.

September 14, 1978 - May 27, 1982

Williams first achieved notice for his stand-up routines, performing for tips only, and working at clubs like The Purple Onion in San Francisco.[citation needed] He has been accused, especially in recent years, of stealing jokes from other comedians and even paying for material after the fact.

After appearing in the cast of the short-lived The Richard Pryor Show on NBC, he was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in a guest role in the TV series Happy Days.

As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and devised plenty of rapid-fire verbal and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice. Mork's appearance was so popular with viewers that it led to a spin-off hit television sitcom, Mork and Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. Williams became an overnight sensation, and Mork was featured on posters, coloring books, lunchboxes, and other merchandise. His nonsensical catch phrases, including the greeting "Nanu, Nanu!" and the expletive "Shazbot!", were widely known.

Mork Wins a Golden Globe Award

January 1, 1979

Williams won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Series (for Mork and Mindy) in 1979.

Nominated for an Oscar: Good Morning, Vietnam

December 23, 1987

The majority of Williams's acting career has been in film, although he has given some memorable performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production of Waiting for Godot with Steve Martin). His first starring roles, Popeye (1980) and The World According to Garp (film) (1982), were both considered flops,[citation needed] but his performance in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) got Williams nominated for an Academy Award and established a screen identity. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos, for example The Birdcage and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Williams won the Golden Globe Award for his role in "Good Morning Vietnam".

Second Marriage: Marsha Garces

April 30, 1989 - March 1, 2008

On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces, his son's babysitter. They have two children, Zelda Rae (born July 31, 1989) and Cody Alan (born November 25, 1991). In March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences.

Dead Poets Society

June 2, 1989

Williams has also starred in dramatic films, earning himself two more Academy Award nominations: First for playing an unorthodox and inspiring English teacher in Dead Poets Society (1989), and later for playing a troubled homeless man in The Fisher King (1991); that same year, he played an adult Peter Pan in the movie Hook. Other acclaimed dramatic films include Awakenings (1990) and What Dreams May Come (1998).

Another Golden Globe Award: The Fisher King

January 1, 1991

In 1991, Williams again won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in Terry Gilliam's "The Fisher King".

Aladdin

November 11, 1992

His role as the Genie in the animated film Aladdin was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in voice actor casting. Later, Williams once again used his voice talents in Fern Gully, as the holographic Dr. Know in the 2001 feature "Artificial Intelligence: A.I.", the 2005 animated feature Robots, the 2006 Academy Award winning Happy Feet, and an uncredited vocal performance in 2006's Everyone's Hero. Furthermore, he was the voice of The Timekeeper, a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to the future.

In 1993, it was reported that he would play The Baker in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, which was to be directed by Rob Reiner.[citation needed] The project never came to fruition, but Williams has expressed interest in someday renewing the project though he claims he'd be more likely, because of his age, to play the Mysterious Man, a grizzled forest spirit and the father of The Baker, his original role.

The Oscar At Last: Good Will Hunting

December 5, 1997

In 1998, he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychologist in Good Will Hunting. However, by the early 2000s, he was thought by some to be typecast in films such as Patch Adams (1998) and Bicentennial Man (1999) that critics complained were excessively maudlin. This apparently prompted Williams to take radically unconventional roles, beginning with a role as a lowlife kiddie show host in the dark comedy Death to Smoochy, followed by One Hour Photo in a watershed performance as an obsessed film developer, Insomnia as a sociopathic writer, and The Final Cut, which is more in tune with Williams as a protagonist. In 2006 Williams starred in The Night Listener, a thriller about a radio show host who realizes he's developed a friendship with a child who may or may not exist.

Williams on "Whose Line is it Anyway"

November 16, 2000

After some encouragement from his friend Whoopi Goldberg, he was set to make a guest appearance in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "A Matter of Time", but he had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict; Matt Frewer took his place as a time-traveling con man, Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen.

Williams also appeared on an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Season 3, Episode 9). During a game of "Scenes from a Hat", the scene "What Robin Williams is thinking right now" was drawn, and Williams stated "I have a career. What the hell am I doing here?"

Voted 13th Greatest Standup Comedian of All Time

April 12, 2004

Starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his standup comedy, including three HBO comedy specials, Off The Wall (1978), An Evening with Robin Williams (1982), and Robin Williams: Live at the Met (1986). His standup work has been a consistent thread through his career, as is seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD) Robin Williams Live on Broadway (2002). He was voted 13th on Comedy Central's list "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time", which aired for the first time on April 12, 2004.

Robin Gives Away the R.V. from "R.V"

January 30, 2006

In 2006, he starred in five movies including Man of the Year and appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired on January 30, 2006. Via a live video link to the De'Aeth family whose house and animal rescue shelter were being made over, he encouraged their son Cory, a budding comedian, and gave the family's shelter a recreational vehicle used in the movie R.V.

At one point, he was in the running to play the Riddler in Batman Forever until director Tim Burton dropped the project. Williams had earlier been a prime candidate to play the Joker in Batman. He had expressed interest in assuming the role in The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, although the part of the Joker was taken by Heath Ledger.

R.V. (Runaway Vacation)

April 28, 2006

2006 comedy film starring Robin Williams as Bob, the head of a dysfunctional family, which also consists of his wife, daughter and son, played respectively by Cheryl Hines, JoJo, and Josh Hutcherson. "On a family vacation, no one can hear you scream."

Drugs and Alcohol

August 9, 2006

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had a serious addiction to cocaine; he has since quit. Williams was a close friend and frequent partier alongside John Belushi. He says the death of his friend and the birth of his son prompted him to quit drugs: "Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped too". He was also quoted as saying, "Cocaine is God's way of telling you, you're making too much money."

On August 9, 2006, Williams entered himself into a rehabilitation center for alcoholism. His publicist delivered the announcement: "After 20 years of sobriety, Robin Williams found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family. He asks that you respect his and his family's privacy during this time. He looks forward to returning to work this fall to support his upcoming film releases.

William's Brother Dies

August 20, 2007

On August 20, 2007, Williams' elder brother, Robert Todd Williams, died of complications from heart surgery performed in July. Robin Williams gave a speech at his memorial service.