Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.

Robin briefly studied political science before enrolling at Juilliard School to study theatre. After leaving Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs where he was discovered for the role of "Mork, from Ork", in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, Happy Days: My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly TV series, Mork & Mindy (1978). He made his feature starring debut playing the title role in Popeye (1980), directed byRobert Altman.

Williams' continuous comedies and wild comic talents involved a great deal of improvisation, following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters. Williams also proved to be an effective dramatic actor, receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), and The Fisher King (1991), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Good Will Hunting (1997).

During the 1990s, Williams became a beloved hero to children the world over for his roles in a string of hit family-oriented films, including Hook (1991), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Flubber(1997), and Bicentennial Man (1999). He continued entertaining children and families into the 21st century with his work in Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Night at the Museum(2006), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Happy Feet 2 (2011), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Other more adult-oriented films for which Williams received acclaim include The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), The Birdcage (1996), Insomnia (2002), One Hour Photo (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and Boulevard (2014).

On Monday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California USA, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Department. A 911 call was received at 11:55 AM PDT, firefighters and paramedics arrived at his home at 12:00 PM PDT, and he was pronounced dead at 12:02 PM PDT.

Spouse

Susan Schneider ( 22 October 2011 )

Trivia

Moved to San Francisco, California when he was 16.

Studied acting briefly at Julliard under John Houseman. Houseman told him he was wasting his talent at Juilliard and he should strike out on his own and do stand-up comedy.

When he auditioned for the role of Mork from Ork on Happy Days (1974), producer Garry Marshall told him to sit down. Williams immediately sat on his head on the chair. Marshall hired him, saying that he was the only alien who auditioned.

Studied at Julliard with actor Christopher Reeve. The two remained good friends until Reeve's death in 2004.

Graduated from Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, north of San Francisco. Other famous alumni from Redwood include Gabrielle Carteris (Beverly Hills, 90210(1990)) and Erin Gray (Kate Summers from Silver Spoons (1982)), and Jason Branson, radio talk show guest/therapist and author. Was voted "Least Likely to Succeed" by his fellow graduates at Larkspur.

One of his favorite bands is Genesis, and he had the opportunity to appear in a movie with one of band's members, appearing with Phil Collins in Hook (1991).

Most of his dialogue in Aladdin (1992) was ad-libbed

After having won the Academy Award for Good Will Hunting (1997), he sent Peer Augustinski (who was his standard German dubbing voice) a little Oscar replica with a note: "Thank you for making me famous in Germany.".

1997: Voted funniest man alive by Entertainment Weekly.

Resided with his family in San Francisco's Seacliff neighborhood for many years. before moving to San Francisco suburb of Tiburon in the 2000s, just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, California.

A statement was released by his wife Susan Schneider, after his death, in which she said that Robin's sobriety was intact and that he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson's Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly.

He was cremated after death and his ashes were scattered along the San Francisco Bay.

Personal Quotes

"Comedy is acting out optimism."

"You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."

"The truth is, if anything, I'm probably addicted to laughter"

Source: IMDB Biography: Robin Williams