Robin Williams Biography 2025:- Robin McLaurin Williams July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014 was an American actor and comedian. Williams is widely considered as one of the greatest comedians of all time, because to his improvisational abilities and the wide range of characters he developed on the fly and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies alike. He collected several awards, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, five Grammy Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Williams was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005. Williams began doing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, and he released many comedy albums, including Reality… What a Concept in 1980. He rose to prominence playing the alien Mork.
Robin Williams Biography 2025
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, as the 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 an executive at Ford Motor Company in Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Robin briefly studied political science at Claremont Men’s College and drama at the College of Marin before enrolling at The Juilliard School to specialize in theater. After attending Juilliard, he worked in nightclubs until he was discovered for the character of “Mork, from Ork” in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly television show, Mork & Mindy.
Robin Williams Biography 2025 Details
| Born |
Robin McLaurin Williams
July 21, 1951
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|
| Died |
August 11, 2014 (aged 63)
Paradise Cay, California, U.S.
|
| Resting place |
Cremated; ashes scattered in San Francisco Bay |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active |
1976–2014 |
| Works |
Full list |
| Spouse |
|
| Children |
3, including Zelda |
| Relatives |
Anselm J. McLaurin (great-great grandfather) |
| Category |
Singers Bio |
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Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies alike, Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time.
Born: 21 July 1951, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: 11 August 2014 (age 63 years), Paradise Cay, California, United States
Children: Zelda Williams, Zachary Pym Williams, Cody Williams
Spouse: Susan Schneider (m. 2011–2014), Marsha Garces Williams (m. 1989–2010), Valerie Velardi (m. 1978–1988)
Height: 1.7 m
Parents: Robert Fitzgerald Williams, Laura McLaurin
Death
Williams, 63, was discovered dead at his house in Paradise Cay, California, on August 11, 2014. The final autopsy report, released in November, found that Williams’ death was a suicide caused by “asphyxia due to hanging.” Neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, and the prescribed medicines in his system were at therapeutic amounts. The study also stated that Williams suffered from despair and anxiety. An analysis of his brain tissue revealed that Williams had “diffuse Lewy body dementia”.[156] Susan Schneider Williams, his widow, described the condition as “the terrorist inside my husband’s brain,” and stated that “however you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life,” referring to his earlier Parkinson’s diagnosis. She remarked that “we as a culture don’t have.
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Early life and education
Robin McLaurin Williams was born July 21, 1951, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (1906–1987), was a top executive in Ford’s Lincoln-Mercury Division. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (1922-2001), was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi, and his great-grandfather was Mississippi Senator and Governor Anselm J. McLaurin. Williams has two elder half-brothers: Robert (sometimes known as Todd), the paternal half-brother, and McLaurin, the maternal half-brother. Williams was raised in his father’s Episcopal faith, despite the fact that his mother practiced Christian Science.
During a 2001 television appearance on Inside the Actors Studio, Williams attributed his mother as being a key early influence on his humor, and he tried to make her laugh to attract attention. Williams attended Lake Forest’s public primary school, Gorton primary, and middle school, Deer Path Junior High School. Williams characterized himself as a timid child who struggled with shyness until he joined his high school theatrical department. His friends remember him as incredibly hilarious. Williams’ father moved to Detroit in late 1963, when he was 12 years old.
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Career
Williams began doing stand-up comedy in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976. Williams gave his debut performance at the Holy City Zoo, a comedy club in San Francisco, where he worked his way up from bartender. In the 1960s, San Francisco was a center for a rock music rebirth, hippies, drugs, and a sexual revolution. In the late 1970s, Williams helped lead its “comedy renaissance,” according to reviewer Gerald Nachman.: 6 Williams stated that he discovered “drugs and happiness” during that time, and that he witnessed “the best brains of my time turned to mud.” Williams relocated to Los Angeles and continued to perform stand-up at clubs such as The Comedy Store. In 1977, he was noticed by TV producer George Schlatter.
He invited him to appear on a reboot of his show, Laugh-In. The episode aired in late 1977 and marked his first TV appearance. Williams also appeared at the Los Angeles Improv for Home Box Office that year. Although the Laugh-In revival failed, it launched Williams’ television career; Williams continued to do stand-up at comic clubs like the Roxy to hone his improvisational abilities. In England, Williams appeared at The Fighting Cocks.
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Personal life
Williams married his first wife, Valerie Velardi, in June 1978, after living with comic Elayne Boosler. Velardi and Williams met in 1976, while he was working as a bartender at a San Francisco restaurant. Their son, Zachary Pym “Zak” Williams, was born in 1983. Velardi and Williams got divorced in 1988. While it was previously reported that Williams began an affair with Zachary’s nanny, Marsha Garces, in 1986, Velardi stated in the 2018 documentary, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, that the connection began after the two had separated. Williams married Garces on April 30, 1989, when she was six months pregnant with their first child. They have two children: Zelda Rae Williams (born 1989) and Cody Alan Williams (born 1991).
In March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, alleging irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in 2010. Williams married his third wife, graphic designer Susan Schneider, on October 22, 2011 in St. Helena, California. They lived in a mansion in Sea Cliff, San Francisco. Williams stated, “My children give me a huge feeling of amazement. “Just to see them grow into these extraordinary people.”
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Highest Film Salary
Williams’ highest single paycheck came from the 1999 film “Bicentennial Man,” for which he earned $20 million. Other notable salaries include $15 million for
Robin Williams Net Worth
He left his estate, which is believed to have been worth up to $100m, in trust to his children from previous marriages and his third wife Susan Schneider-Williams. However, Williams’ last wishes turned out to be a little vague, resulting in a legal battle that would last years.
