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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

RIP Robin Williams

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30 Responses to “RIP Robin Williams”

  1. Jerald Brewer says:

    Robin was not a celeb. He was a genius. I never met him, but know people who have (if just to get an autograph) & they loved him.
    This hits hard!

  2. Bulldog68 says:

    Funny that he is/was not as revered as Tom Hanks, but from his comic beginnings he certainly made a name for himself as a dramatic actor. 4 Noms including 1 win to Hanks 5 Noms and 2 wins.

    It’s a great loss, but also another tragic and potentially avoidable loss, following on the heels of Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

  3. Vicki Hobb says:

    I am speechless, Such an incredible talent, gone forever. I once saw him at Brentano’s at Century City Plaza. I was standing in line behind him and didn’t realize it was him until a fan came up and told him how much she loved in The World According to Garp. And I looked and realized it was him. He was so quiet and unassuming, a complete opposite of the person would see on camera. It must be very difficult to try and always be so “up” because that is what people expect. RIP Robin Williams.

  4. EtGuild2 says:

    Many millenials (and late Gen Xers) belove Williams as much as, if not more, than Hanks thanks to movies like “Hook,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “What Dreams May Come,” “Jumanji,” “The Birdcage” and the like.

    I certainly don’t think his choices in the last decade (and people forget his heartbreaking turn in “World’s Greatest Dad”) should have any more bearing in remembering him than Brando’s did, and as De Niro’s, Pacino’s, Keaton’s and numerous others’ will.

  5. Anthony says:

    The interview he did with Marc Maron on WTF:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tLi1Mc7g30

  6. berg says:

    the robin williams film I like is The Survivors, with jerry reed and walter mathau

  7. Bulldog68 says:

    Club Paradise is viewed as one of his clunkers, but back when it was released in 1986 I was an 18 year old living in Trinidad & Tobago. It went over like gangbusters with the local crowd.

  8. Hallick says:

    Hearing my sister tell me that Robin Williams died today was like hearing that half the moon just fell off and disappeared forever. “Mork and Mindy” was maybe my first favorite show as a little kid and it really stands out as the first series finale that I ever saw (and never could quite process as a nine year old then or a forty one year old now).

  9. cadavra says:

    I strongly urge everyone to rent THE ANGRIEST MAN IN BROOKLYN. Absolutely one of his finest performances, and it’s a shame so few people have actually seen it.

  10. PcChongor says:

    And fuck the haters, “Death to Smoochy” is one of the greatest black comedies of all-time.

  11. Dr Wally Rises says:

    RIP Robin. O Captain, my Captain.

  12. Triple Option says:

    What an incredible body of work. I remember watching the Mork & Mindy pilot right out of Happy Days as just the funniest thing ever! I could not believe when the credits came up on that show and me feeling so shocked that a half hour had truly gone by. I remember long rides at the amusement park. And this was when I was too short to ride anything. Anyway, it’s kind of amazing how much the guy worked over the past 40 years. Don’t know if he stopped doing standup but I know he used to pop into clubs even when he had gone on to more serious roles.

    I don’t know what my favorite would be. Garp was very good. I loved the Survivors. He had an amazing knack at seamlessly going from over the top to epiphany to disillusioned to sublimely profound in film and on stage live just as fast as an audience’s emotions would them to comprehend.

    Hate he’s gone. Hate he had to go out that way. One surprising positive as been the universal outpouring of praise and support toward his survivors. Nice to see so many people had small personal moments w/him. I know no one is perfect but it’s nice to see that most of those who had either something negative to say about him, celebrity, or suicide in general managed to keep their fingers still. Respect.

  13. SamLowry says:

    …and yet if he’d died in his sleep, twenty years from now, he’d be a one-day blip, at most, just like James Garner and Lauren Bacall.

    Funny how the manner of death is extending his coverage period, just like with Gandolfini: “So, can being too fat really kill you?”

  14. YancySkancy says:

    “Funny how the manner of his death is extending his coverage period…” Really? When has this ever NOT been the case. Of course dying of old age isn’t as newsworthy as suicide, unless the old person was a truly important figure in human history. The shocking will always generate more headlines than the inevitable.

    As for Gandolfini, I don’t if you were the one who practically gloated over his death because he didn’t shake your hand on the street or whatever, but enough of that already.

  15. Chucky says:

    And it’s nice to see MCN link to that rancid remark by gutter mouth/right-wing demagogue Rush Limbaugh.

  16. SamLowry says:

    I’ve never been further west than the Grand Canyon so I’ve never indulged in celebrity-stalking.

    However, I did wonder at the time why folks acted so shocked about Gandolfini’s death, so unwilling to believe that maybe a few extra lbs might have done him in, when he had been so morbidly obese in BURT WONDERSTONE that of course an old-folks home was never in his future.

    I’m especially irked by all the “Get treatment!” cheerleading that accompanied Williams’ death, as if treatment for everyone is available, affordable, and effective. Williams was in treatment for decades and we see how well that worked.

  17. Triple Option says:

    Guess I had been looking at all the right (or wrong) websites. Apparently his daughter had to yank her twitter acct due to the ugliness. I shouldn’t have been so naive.

  18. SamLowry says:

    There was a recent article at Jezebel about much the same thing; Jezebel’s female writers are often the moderators of Gawker’s comment sections and they’re getting spammed with animated gifs of violent porn, yet Gawker won’t implement any of their suggestions to stop it.

    Which is why I’ve been saying that internet anonymity is a bad thing; implement 24/7 monitoring of everyone (everyone, especially the 1%), then sweep away anonymity and watch these issues vanish.

  19. YancySkancy says:

    Sam: People were shocked because not everyone who’s overweight (even morbidly obese) keels over dead at age 51 while on vacation. And I don’t know the medical definition of morbidly obese, but I read Gandolfini was 275 lbs. and 6′ 1″ tall, which, while certainly not healthy, doesn’t suggest imminent death to me.

    As for “Get treatment!” entreaties upon Williams’ death, sure, by all means let’s encourage the mentally ill to forego help on the theory that not all treatments work or are available to all people. Just ride it out, folks, and if you can’t, well, here’s a belt and a chair. I mean, come on. Suicide hotlines are free, there are free clinics and other options. They will not “work” for every individual, but that hardly means we should give up on helping those who might benefit. There’s still a lot of ignorance out there about bipolar, depression, borderline, etc., and if Williams’ death brings a little awareness, what’s the harm? Who cares if you get a little “irked” if even one person seeks help or reaches out to someone who needs it?

  20. Ray Pride says:

    SL, That same article noted that Gawker/Kinja has chosen NOT to log and track IP addresses, even when the user hasn’t used VPN or other ways to block their address. Part of what the article was furious over.

  21. SamLowry says:

    Jezebel did post a follow-up (which I found after I wrote about the original) saying that Gawker is now looking into the matter, but though they seemed to think this was a response to their open letter they also mentioned that the publicity their letter generated resulted in spammers sending rape porn to other Gawker sites; by squinting between the lines I’m assuming those sites were moderated by men.

    Jezebel didn’t go there, but I’m guessing that the high muckety-mucks didn’t take the women seriously and only responded after men started complaining.

    And Yancy, I’m assuming suicide hotlines exist to talk people off the metaphorical ledge, not deal with people who feel an overwhelming sense of pointlessness every moment of every day. That’s what medication is for, and that stuff ain’t free, or even cheap.

  22. YancySkancy says:

    Sam: Still not getting your point, if there is one. You seem to be suggesting that anyone with depression should just go ahead and end it all, since there’s no cheap, easy fix, and since even the expensive treatments didn’t work for Williams, who I guess should have just saved himself some time and money and offed himself a long time ago. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m starting to feel like you’re a bit of a troll on this issue, so I’ll disengage.

  23. SamLowry says:

    The prohibitive cost of treatment and the lack of universal health care means that society does indeed want anyone who can’t afford treatment to die, and that covers any treatment–cancer, transplant, etc.

    That actually ties in to a story I wrote about junk food that I hope to submit to Amazon. Hmm….

  24. PcChongor says:

    Just like the lack of unicorns directly posits that society clearly hasn’t been collectively squeezing their eyes shut and wishing hard enough.

  25. Sam says:

    SL, think about what PcC just said very hard.

    You’re basically saying that because we haven’t completely solved a problem that is extremely difficult at minimum and likely impossible, that nobody cares. Screw that.

    In the meantime, by all means ignore all the great attempts and money being spent to *try* to solve the problem, or at least substantially improve the situation. This is not the behavior of a society who wants troubled people to kill themselves.

    I’m with Yancy on this. You’re a troll. Usually you pick more innocuous subjects to practice your craft on, though. Trolling over depression and suicide is a new low.

  26. Bulldog68 says:

    For every Robin Williams that wasn’t saved, there are numerous untold stories of those that were. Sam may not be considering that. Is the passing grade for these programs 100%?

    I’m not fan of AA, mainly due to it’s religious ties, but that doesn’t mean I have to discount those who credit it with keeping them sober.

  27. PcChongor says:

    The new revalation that Williams was just beginning to go through the early stages of Parkinsons really helps bring quite a bit more sense to his death than what was initially speculated.

    Depression and maintaining sobriety certainly ARE two huge issues that can lead to suicide, but they really pale in comparison with the knowledge that everything that once defined you as a comedian and actor is slowly going to be stripped away from you to create a hollow shell of your former self. Just take a look at what eventually happened to one of the all-time comedy greats, Terry-Thomas, when Parkinsons took its full toll on him:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRWiO_J-8ok

    It still might not be a decision everyone agrees with, but no one should be forced to suffer through something like that just for the sake of others.

  28. christian says:

    In other news, Jeff Wells is still the most loathsome person in Hollywood.

    Do people actually hang out with him?

  29. cadavra says:

    We try not to.

  30. EtGuild2 says:

    I finally posted at Hollywood Elsewhere ,despite promising myself not to. Thanks christian.

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