Robin Williams in a manic frenzy

Not to diss him or pay disrespect to the dead, but i always thought he was mentally ill, NOT talented, NOT a comedian, NOT a artist...

guess it truly is a fine line between the two?..

And no, i never found him funny or entertaining..

Coked up in that clip?

like billy eichner, on these tears he was really really funny, but only in small doses

that he ended up being a sad depressed old man was heart-breaking.

I used to find him extremely funny as a kid.

After I grew up I realized he had some tortured almost cringe inducing need for attention and it just wasn't that funny. I could see him thinking of the next wildest thing to get a reaction, a reaction that would validate him or something. I mean he certainly has his moments of wit but it's bittersweet watching him now.

I never thought he was that funny--definitely manic though

His name was Robin McLaurin Williams.

Interesting trivia from Wikipedia:

"His mother, Laurie McLaurin, was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi. Through her, he was a great-great-grandson of Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin."

[quote] I used to find him extremely funny as a kid.

That's because he starred in a lot of family friendly films, some of which hasn't aged well. However, his stand up specials are very adult and are still hilarious. I really liked the last HBO one he did where by the end he was drenched in sweat.

"Mrs. Doubtfire" was crap.

And remember the hype around "Toys"- which flopped?

[quote] "Mrs. Doubtfire" was crap.

Millions would disagree with you. Despite mediocre reviews, it's become a cultural phenomenon.

He was frequently coked up, and he also had an emotional disorder that would make him manic.

He did not have a happy life.

He was talented, but so desperate for attention that it killed the funny. All you can see is his incredible neediness.

He made many shitty films

Well there was his idol, Jonathan Winters, who was also plagued with psych issues.

Robin Williams had Lewy Body Dementia, and I believe his behavior and mania were aspects of the damage to his brain.

I did know one person who behaved just like him: my father’s brother. He was frantic and frenetic. He ran a drug rehab charity and he became a minister. He told us that he was haunted by the ghost of his first boss and that Satan used to come into his house through the sliding glass door and he had to banish Satan in the name of Jesus Christ. He took in and tried to mentor a former convict and drug addict who stole literally everything from him, including even his dining room chandelier and his dishwasher. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma and died within a couple of months. I feel certain that his behaviors, including hallucinations and religiosity, were caused by his brain cancer.

Robin Williams is a national treasure. I didn't like all of his movies but a few I consider favorites. He's incredible in One Hour Photo. He's one of those celebrity deaths that felt like a gut punch and I miss Robin Williams quite a bit.

He was wonderful, but could be a bit hard to take at times. I loved him in Mrs. Doubtfire and Jumanji and even his more dramatic work like One Hour Photo where he proved that he could be still and placid. He's already gone down as one of the greats, but I can't imagine hanging around him for more than 10 minutes without clawing my eyes out.

He definitely had moments of brilliance. BiCentential Man was a flop but I always thought it was a wonderful film. Same with When Dreams May Come and the previously mentioned One Hour Photo. He was great in those. His manic portrayals like in Good Morning Vietnam were tedious. He was so funny in The Birdcage. I'm sure whenever he found out about his Lewy body dementia it did change his personality somewhat. I don't blame him for not wanting to go out that way. RIP Robin.

Insomnia was a good film. He was not good in it

I enjoyed a couple of his movies, because he seemed at least partially under control. But apart from his movies, watching him exhausted me. Too much sensory input for my taste.

Major, major talent. Very gifted man. I also liked Bicentennial Man and What Dreams May Come. By all accounts, a kind and caring man.

Yes, the constant & obvious need for attention was unattractive. Thanks for reminding me of One-Hour Photo. That was a good movie, like Cable Guy (not joking).

I think it was the HBO special where he described being addicted to cocaine plus being rich. (Coke is God's way of telling you you have too much money, something like that.)

I was born in '79, grew up with Robin Williams films, he was like a second, silver screen dad for me. And yeah, he wasn't always funny, but his best moments made up for it. His suicide hit me harder than any other celebrity death has or will.

R1, I have never found Robin Williams funny at all. He was much better in scary/dramatic roles. His "comedy" is too much, like a child that won't stop saying "look at me, look at me!".

He was always annoying and untalented. On the Spectrum before there WAS a Spectrum.

He said he was grateful for having a mother from the South and that's where he got his sense of humor - that southern women were like a combination of Tennessee Williams and Neil Simon.

What R22 said. Fuck you, haters. x

I’d not heard that before, R25 - that’s quite lovely. x

Aww I love Robin. I just meant it's hard to watch him when he's in pain.

He said something about the Oscar high being over with in a matter of months or something. From the time when he won an Oscar. Was he on to something about achievements in fame being fleeting, or was that just his personality?

I feel so sorry for his children.

He was fast but that doesn't make him funny. He was much better as a dramatic actor, as are most comedians.

When my borderline/bipolar dad was 'on', which was most of the time, he was exactly like that. A legendary raconteur, but exhausting to be around for any stretch of time. I couldn't be more different.

Before everything went PC.

Robin Williams gave me HIVES!

He ALWAYS seemed like a manic mental patient and high as a kite. I never got how he didn't unnerve more people with his exhausting antics. It was a sad end for him, but I understand he had a long period of drug and alcohol abuse, which never helps in the end.

You bitches are slipping...

I had experiences with him before he was famous. He would drop in unexpectedly at local clubs (San Francisco, 1970s) and I saw him several times when he did that. He was from Marin County (directly north of SF) and was a local fixture in clubs then.

I was modeling in those days but also very shy. I met him at a friend's house, he came by with a comic friend and hung out for a while. He was also quiet and shy and we stared at each other a lot, he was handsome in a cute way. Afterwards I learned he had just signed with the William Morris Agency, shortly before he was cast as Mork. He was already with the woman who became his first wife but I still developed a huge crush.

The highlight though was when a friend and I went to a comedy club in the Marina District, there were two other people in the small club. We were having drinks when out he pops unexpectedly onto the small stage. My friend had gone to high school with him and he looked at as like we seemed familiar but didn't mention it. For the next 90 minutes he played directly to us. It was wild and crazy and hilarious. Manic for sure, but I understood from people who knew him that he could be shy and reserved when not performing.

I liked him - but never liked him in improv and stand up. It's just way too much. Some of the free association was pretty amazing, but his 'comedy' was like watching a tornado.

He had, to my ears, such a strange accent. Can anyone explain it?

In person I'm stone-faced but inside I'm a lot like Robin: my mind racing and seeing everything in a sarcastic, wry way. When I'm alone I do voices, poke fun of people and sing songs satirically. So manic comics like Mario Cantone, Joan Rivers and Robin are cathartic for me.

I was always conflicted about Robin Williams. A good actor whose work I enjoyed - and often great - Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet's Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, One Hour Photo, The World According to Garp - I HATED his talk show and awards show appearances. I found them self-indulgent and over-the-top and not very funny. It seemed to be the fact that he was talking so fast (manic) was supposed to be funny. But I found it uncomfortable and tedious. It's like Robert Downey Jr.'s appearances on talk shows and awards shows - he thinks he's so funny but he comes off smug and up his own ass.

But Robin did have a likability that highlighted all of his work.

I'm the opposite of most of you in that I loved his stand-up but wasn't into his movies. HBO did a great documentary on him a while back, for all of his success in life he was not a very happy person, which is so common among comedians. Many of them are unhappy people.

R38 One hour photo was such a strange and haunting film. I'm surprised it's not more of a cult classic.

He always seemed textbook bipolar and was self medicating with drugs and alcohol. Great actor but I remember Oprah interviewing him once and I felt so sorry for her, he was on another planet, completely manic and all over the place, it was very annoying. One of these creative people who are too smart for their own good and who are borderline crazy. Sad, I think he suffered tremendously.

Yeah, I have to watch One Hour Phot again r40. I found it very creepy. I had such a crush on Michael Vartan at the time but even his handsomeness could transcend the movie's bleakness.

If you have any experience with Lewy Body Dementia, also informally known as the ‘worst’ type, you know why he killed himself. It’s a totally cruel variation with delusions, paranoia, violence, forgetfulness and eventually total loss of mobility. He did the right thing.

Williams was never funny. All he did was act like a four year old, hopped on sugar. And at least they are cute and not disgustingly overweight and hirsute.

r44 when was Robin Williams ever disgustingly overweight?

Annoying as shit and more untreated than talented. His latter "serious" work like One-Hour Photo was just creepy, not good, the equivalent of say, a six-year-old girl playing the role of Norma Desmond (with apologies Mrs. Patsy Ramsey, formerly of Boulder CO).

Another example of how people often mistake effort for a successful result.