Remembering Robin Williams

MANILA, Philippines - The last time I saw Robins Williams was in “The Crazy Ones," a sitcom he shared top billing with Sarah Michele Gellar. As the “crazy” ad man Simon Roberts, he was in his element— high-strung, delivering his lines with panache (I sometimes wonder if some of them were his own), and just being Robin Williams funny.

While I loved him in his comedic roles (Mrs. Doubtfire especially comes to mind) and even his offscreen humor (LOL is the perfect way to react to watching a Robin Williams interview), it was his "serious" roles as English teacher John Keating in "Dead Poets Society" and psychology professor Sean Maguire in "Good Will Hunting" that resonate with me the most. Williams won his first and only Academy award in this Ben Affleck and Matt Damon-written film directed by Gus Van Sant.

According to his IMDB page, Williams played 102 roles in his lifetime (including in the yet-to-be-released Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb where he reprises his role as Teddy Roosevelt).

President Barack Obama best encapsulates what Williams was as an actor: "Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny... and everything in between. But he was one of a kind."

While I sometimes feel (having grown old perhaps) that "Dead Poets Society" over-romanticizes the "studying literature" experience a bit, I am still deeply affected every time I see it.

This scene from "Good Will Hunting", however, is the one that always gets to me the most (I own a VHS copy, yes a VHS copy, of this movie).

There were talks before that he would be joining "Homeland." I would've loved to see him alongside Many Patinkin.  

When I learned about Williams’ death while on my way to work this morning, I just felt really sad. When I later learned that the cause was suicide, the tears just started rolling. 

One of the good/sad things about social media is that you can take part in the collective grief over the death of a celebrity whose work, sometimes, you have not even seen. It's like saying "condolence" to the family of a dead neighbor whom you never even greeted the whole time he was alive. 

But if it's someone whom you've really loved and admired- even just onscreen -sharing the sadness just makes it a little comforting. Just a little. Rest in peace, Robin Williams.