1Sobriety Break: Robin's Troubled Times
Despite maintaining sobriety for 21 years, Robin Williams resumed drinking during the production of his film "Insomnia."
2. An enthusiastic online gamer, Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda after the iconic video game series "The Legend of Zelda." Zelda Williams, in turn, has expressed her fondness for her namesake and cited "Majora's Mask" as her favorite game.
3. Robin Williams's great-great-grandfather served as the governor of Mississippi from 1896 to 1900.
4. Robin Williams played a pivotal role in convincing network executives to greenlight Oprah Winfrey's first television talk show.
5. Robin Williams's will includes provisions that prevent Disney from utilizing his name, taped performances, or voice recordings for 25 years after his death.
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6Joker Interest: Robin & Steve's Aspirations
Both Steve Carell and Robin Williams had expressed interest in portraying The Joker in "The Dark Knight."
7. Robin Williams's autopsy revealed a significant loss (around 40%) of dopamine neurons, with nearly every neuron in his brain and brainstem bearing Lewy bodies, indicating Lewy body disease (LBD).
8. Following Robin Williams's tragic death by suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline experienced its highest call volume in history the following day.
9. In one of Robin Williams' final films, "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn," his character Henry jokingly stated that his tombstone would read "1951-2014." Ironically, Robin Williams was born in 1951 and passed away in 2014.
10. Robin Williams mastered fluent Russian and learned to play the saxophone within several months for his role as Vladimir Ivanoff in "Moscow on the Hudson." His proficiency in Russian impressed the Russian actors, many of whom were not fluent in English.
11'Awakenings' Nose Incident: Robin's Apology
In the 1990 movie "Awakenings," Robin Williams accidentally broke Robert De Niro's nose. However, De Niro took it in stride, as he had previously broken his nose during the filming of "Raging Bull," so breaking it again in the other direction straightened it out.
12. Prior to Norm MacDonald's debut appearance on the Tonight Show, Robin Williams surprised him in his dressing room. During the visit, Williams assumed various roles, including pretending to be a Jewish tailor and a Chinese restaurant employee, before helping dress Norm and departing.
13. Robin Williams was considered for the lead role in "The Shining," but upon viewing 'Mork & Mindy,' Stanley Kubrick deemed him too psychotic for the part.
14. In 'Good Will Hunting,' Robin Williams improvised the final line as well as the scene where he discusses his wife farting in bed, resulting in Matt Damon's genuine laughter.
15. Robin Williams expressed interest in portraying Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, but he was disqualified due to a British-only casting rule.
16Batman Offer: Robin's Demanded Apology
Robin Williams was offered and agreed to play The Joker in the 1989 film "Batman." However, Warner Bros. extended the offer primarily to entice their first choice, Jack Nicholson, who eventually accepted. Williams demanded an apology from the studio because he felt tricked.
17. Billy Crystal and Robin Williams made an impromptu cameo appearance on the show 'Friends.' They stumbled onto the set from a nearby set and improvised the opening scene for "The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion."
18. The actress who portrayed Robin Williams' teenage daughter in 'Mrs. Doubtfire' was expelled from school due to excessive absences during filming. Robin Williams penned a letter to the principal, respectfully pleading for reconsideration. Though unsuccessful in her reinstatement, the school did frame the letter.
19. According to reports, Robin Williams' suggestion led Sid Meier, the creator of games like Sid Meier's Civilization and Sid Meier's Pirates!, to start including his name in the titles of his games in the 1980s.
20. The production team for 'Mork and Mindy' had to employ a censor proficient in four languages to prevent Robin Williams from secretly slipping swear words in various languages into the show's filming.
21'Mork & Mindy' Scripts: Robin's Influence
The scripts for 'Mork & Mindy' were notably shorter due to Robin Williams' penchant for improvisation. Certain sections were simply notated with "Robin will do something here."
22. During his audition for the role of Mork, when asked to take a seat, Robin Williams promptly sat on his head on the chair. He was cast on the spot.
23. Robin Williams accepted the role of the Genie for SAG scale pay ($75,000) under the conditions that neither his name nor image be used for marketing and that the character not occupy more than 25 percent of space on advertising artwork. However, Disney failed to honor both agreements.
24. In order to persuade Robin Williams to voice the Genie in Aladdin (1992), Disney commissioned an animator to sketch and synchronize the Genie performing Williams' own stand-up comedy. Williams was so impressed by the demonstration that he immediately agreed to the role.
25. While filming "Schindler's List," Steven Spielberg would frequently put Robin Williams on speakerphone to lift the spirits of the cast and crew.
