robin williams - so sadly missed

[Ken Gargett]

i guess that there might be some younger members who never really saw the man in his glory. one of a kind. brilliant. 

this will give you a small taste.

 

[CampDelta369]

Absolutely. Comedy at light speed. Some great movies as well. Sadly missed here.

[joeypots]

Posted before, I'm sure. Pure comic genius. The very beginning is fantastic.

 

[SmokyFontaine]

To see him and Jonathan Winters together was flat-out magic. I used to do stand-up comedy in the San Francisco area years ago (no, I wasn't particularly good) but the veterans that I became friends with all had personal Robin Williams stories. To the person, EVERYONE adored the man. He would come to venues with a checkbook, and if he heard a joke that he loved and wanted to perform it himself, he would cut a check on the spot and offer to buy the joke. To people not all that familiar with the art, bigger names can fairly frequently steal lower rank comics' jokes and due to their larger platform, audiences associate the joke with the star while the one who actually came up with it basically has to retire it for fear of people saying he stole it from the star. Robin Williams never did that. 

Anyway, a couple of people removed from knowing him directly, but the adoration that fans have for the man is only bested by the people who knew him personally. Really a terrific human being. So sad the way things ended. 

[OZCUBAN]

Well said Ken I totally agree a one of 

[retrofail]

One of my favorites for sure. 

The speed at which his mind worked is baffling. I can’t even pretend to imagine what it was like in his head. Comedically genius, but most likely pretty tormenting. 

[Fuzz]

Definitely a comedic genius. Been a fan since first seeing him on "Happy Days" and "Mork & Mindy". Sorely missed.

[First Lady]

Such a loss of a comic genius   

 

Like you Fuzz my earliest memories is of Mork and Mindy which I still quote to this day 

[Jal154]

17 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i guess that there might be some younger members who never really saw the man in his glory. one of a kind. brilliant. 

this will give you a small taste.

 

I remember back in the late 70’s, maybe ‘80-81 I was in a nightclub. I brought a battery operated TV with me and went outside to my car and turned on at 11:30pm.  Either it was Carson or Letterman and watched one of his first talk show appearances. He was amazing. He later became a dramatic actor that you could feel immensely right through the screen. Sadly missed.

[TheMonk]

An absolute genius. When he was on, he was the absolute best. Shame he had such a hard time handling the downs of life.

[BrightonCorgi]

He had the most impressive collection road bicycles or anyone.  I remember when they went to auction.

Considering his terminal cancer diagnosis, I understand his decision to call it a day earlier than nature intended.

[SmokyFontaine]

43 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

He had the most impressive collection road bicycles or anyone.  I remember when they went to auction.

Considering his terminal cancer diagnosis, I understand his decision to call it a day earlier than nature intended.

I believe it was actually dementia. As his body and brain started to breakdown, he found it intolerable to not be able to be the quick-witted life of the crowd, and that sent him into severe depression. My understanding is that because his body wouldn't let him carry himself publicly the way that we all expected, the pressure became too much for him to handle. There was a truly emotional documentary about him that I believe was on HBO. Really heavy stuff. 

[BrightonCorgi]

14 minutes ago, SmokyFontaine said:

I believe it was actually dementia. 

Just looked it up...  Wikipedia says says he had Lewy Bodies.

"Lewy bodies are abnormal aggregates of protein that develop inside nerve cells, contributing to Parkinson's disease (PD), the Lewy body dementias (Parkinson's disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies), and some other disorders. They are also seen in cases of multiple system atrophy, particularly the parkinsonian variant.

 

[SOFLO88]

He was definitely up there among the greats. As both comedian and actor. I knew him more from the movies before the early 2000's then caught onto his comedy.