In Memory of Robin Williams

As all of you are aware, Robin Williams passed away a few days ago at the age of 63. This was sudden, this was shocking, this was heartbreaking. I won't go into the details of how he died, as many of you are already aware of how he died, and if not, you can easily search. Instead, I want to focus on my memories of his career while growing up. I have not seen all his movies that he has done, but I have seen quite a few, and he was a huge name growing up in the 90s.

One of the biggest movies I remember him in was Aladdin, where he voiced the Genie. I remember seeing that as a kid and he was funny, I didn't get all of the jokes or references when I first saw it, but I got many of them later as I grew up, but regardless his energy was a ton of fun to watch, and to see what he did. I was even really excited to hear that he was back in Aladdin and the King of Thieves 4 years later, even though it was direct to video, and wasn't as high in quality as Aladdin, he still did a great job and made me laugh. Even to this day, he was one of the reasons I really enjoyed Aladdin.

Another movie that really had an impact growing up was Mrs Doubtfire. I even saw that one in theaters when I was a kid. That was really funny, and also had a serious side as well, and balanced itself well in my mind. That was actually the first movie that I watched after he passed.

One that I saw when I got into high school that really surprised me was Awakenings. I always considered Robin Williams as the funny man, and with a lot of funny men, like Jim Carrey, I can't see them play anything serious. Well, Awakenings proved me wrong. I haven't yet seen Good Will Hunting nor Dead Poets Society so I can't officially use those for comparisons, but I know those are more serious roles, so yes, not only can he be funny, but he can also be serious.

Other movies that really stuck out as I was growing up were Fern Gully, Jumanji, Flubber, and Hook. These are just some of the ones that stick out.

Honestly, I can easily say that Robin Williams was one of the most gifted actors. I got to go through many of the different tweets from celebs following his death, and also got to view tributes that were done by talk show hosts, including Conan O'Brien. I got to learn that not only was he a gifted actor, but a wonderful human being. Conan shared an experience when Robin bought a bicycle for Conan after going through a difficult time in his life, and Andy even shared how Robin would go to entertain troops, and this was not done for any sort of publicity, but just to be generous. He would give of his time to others. So not only was he a gifted actor, but he was a wonderful person in real life as well. He will greatly be missed.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Williams family at this time.