8/11/2019 Good Morning Vietnam - Jerry Mazza

1/5

Good Morning, Vietnam!The Life and Death of Robin Williams

By Jerry Maa

"g"st #$th, %'

I didnt want to grieve in the dark after I was smacked with the headline of

Robin Williams suicide. I enjoyed him too much. So I turned to finding the

best stories that highlighted his life. It begins with Williams graduating fromRedwood High School in Marin ounty into the world of funniness. His

classmates couldn!t hel" themselves# $hey voted him both %most humorous%and %least likely to succeed.% &ood gag. 'nfortunately( he to""ed them.

Williams became one of the world!s most successful entertainers( an actor

and comedian whose energy animated characters who( like himself( seemed

to be s"inning hilariously out of control ) sometimes into dark "laces thatonly the %most humorous% can understand.

Williams( whose first major role was as a lovable alien in the $* series %Mork+ Mindy(% but who soon graduated to films such as %&ood Will Hunting(%

%,ead -oets Society(% %Mrs. ,oubtfire(% and %&ood Morning( *ietnam(% diedMonday in what a""ears to be a suicide from as"hyiation( Marin ounty

authorities said. $hat bears clarification.

Williams( /0( was found dead in his $iburon home about noon. $ests to"in"oint the cause of his death were scheduled to start $uesday.

His "ublicist( Mara 1ubaum( said Williams had been %battling severe

de"ression of late.%

2ver the years( the international su"erstar struggled with alcohol andcocaine addiction.

%ocaine for me was a "lace to hide(% he once told People maga3ine. %Most"eo"le get hy"er on coke. It slowed me down.4 5nd I was so cra3y back

then( working all day and "artying most of the night# I needed an ecuse not

to talk.%

Williams was a close friend of the late comic 6ohn 1elushi and was with him

March 7( 89:;( just hours before 1elushi died of an overdose at the hateau

Marmont in

8/11/2019 Good Morning Vietnam - Jerry Mazza

2/5

%>ou!re standing at a "reci"ice and you look down( there!s a voice and it!s alittle ?uiet voice that goes( @6um"A( Bhe told 51 Cews.D

5lthough Williams was said to be ?uiet and even withdrawn offstage( he was

com"ulsively on much of the time.

In a 8990 $imes interview( he was ty"ically freeEform when describing how

he could inject too much of himself into a role.

%Sometimes you!ll want to use the old lines( go for the laughter( rather thandevelo" the character(% he said.

%$he other tendency is for me to be too vulnerable( where the director has to

say( !2F( that!s a little bit too much(! and find something that allows theaudience to e"erience it but without gas"ing for air.

%It!s like an acting teacher said(% he went on( "lunging into a thick 1ritishaccent# %!,ear boy( that was a lovely scene and your emotions ) there wasso much of themA! 1ut it!s a bit like urinating in brown corduroy "ants. >ou

feel wonderful( but we see nothing.%

Some of the "eo"le who worked closely with Williams knew they were in the"resence of a comic genius( but saw him as both warm and remote.

%He was always in character ) you never saw the real Robin(% said 6amieMasada( founder and chief eecutive of the

8/11/2019 Good Morning Vietnam - Jerry Mazza

3/5

5fter the show went off the air in 89:;( Williams! re"utation for ra"idEfireim"ersonations ) not to mention a seemingly endless talent for comic

im"rovisation ) landed him a number of highE"rofile standEu" comedys"ecials as well as numerous film roles. In %&ood Morning( *ietnam% J89:K

he "layed a disc jockey who ruffled feathers with his truthEs"ewing( ?ui"E

cracking ways( while in the animated %5laddin% J899;K( he singleEhandedlyinvented the fullEbodied voice role as the silverEtongued &enie.

$hough now common( the tearEu"EtheEscri"t style of im"rovisation "racticed

by Williams was unusual in major Hollywood "roductions( and the actorseemed to be able to rewrite the rules by the sheer force of "ersonality )

or( as was fre?uently the case where Williams was concerned )"ersonalities. $hat talent also landed him a gig coEhosting the 2scars in

89:/( a turn that further cemented his 5Elist status.

Williams! "rotean comedic skills "erha"s reached their a"e in %Mrs.,oubtfire% J8990K( a crossEdressing comedy in which he "lays a crusty older

nanny and the divorced father who takes on the character to be closer to hischildren. $hough it showcased the kind of onEaEdime "ersonality shifts for

which Williams was famous( its madca" conceit was made "lausible( many

observers believed( by the heartfelt ?ualities Williams brought to the film.

Indeed( a melancholy undercurrent ran through Williams! dramatic roles.

5nd there were many of them# He "layed an unconventional teacher in

%,ead -oets Society% J89:9K( a doctor who tended to the mentally troubledin %5wakenings J899=K( a disturbed vagabond in %$he Gisher Fing% J8998K

and a "sychologist whose wife had died in %&ood Will Hunting% J899K.

$hat last role ) in which he famously counseled a hotshot Matt ,amon whilegra""ling with his own demons ) landed him an 5cademy 5ward for

su""orting actor. He also tried his hand( with generally strong results( inoffbeat fantasies( including %Hook% J8998K and %6umanji% J8997K.

Sometimes( Williams! warmth could a""ear saccharine. 5s a doctor dealingwith terminally ill "atients in %-atch 5dams% J899:K( Williams was lambasted

for mawkishness. It!s %a sad( old showEbi3 story(% said a critic for Cew >ork

maga3ine( %the dulling out( at "remium "rices( of a onceEfirebrand talent.%

In the last decade( Williams had turned more to su""orting studio roles as

well as inde"endent films and even the small screen.

8/11/2019 Good Morning Vietnam - Jerry Mazza

4/5

He attem"ted his first return to network $* with the shortElived sitcom %$hera3y 2nes% on 1S last year( and reunited with director 1obcat &oldthwaite

in the indie black comedy %World!s &reatest ,ad% in ;==9.

He was nominated for eight mmys and won two( in 89: and 89::( for his

roles in variety shows.

Gurther demonstrating his "ersonaEstretching skills( Williams also had wellE

regarded "arts "laying "residents ) as ,wight isenhower in last summer!shit %ork ity.

$he other was hristo"her Reeve( who became a lifelong friend.

In whiteEface( Williams entertained crowds as a mime outside the

Metro"olitan Museum of 5rt. Within a few years( he was doing standEu" atclubs in San Grancisco( and then

8/11/2019 Good Morning Vietnam - Jerry Mazza

5/5

Marshall said in a statement Monday. %$he first season of !Mork + Mindy! Iknew immediately that a threeEcamera format would not be enough to

ca"ture Robin and his genius talent. So I hired a fourth camera o"erator andhe just followed Robin.