Deep Dive: Robin Williams (Part 1)

Robin Williams is an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy award winning actor and comedian. He first rose to prominence for his breakout role as Mork in the hit '70s sitcom, Mork and Mindy. Following Mork, Robin received praise for his dramatic turn in films such as Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, and The Fisher King. In the '90s, Williams became one of the highest-paid movie stars in the world thanks to films like Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Jumanji. In 1998, after three prior nominations, he finally won an Oscar for his performance as Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Despite a slowdown at the box office into the 2000s, Williams received Best Comedy Album nominations at the Grammys for his final two standup specials, Robin Williams Live (2002) and Weapons of Self-Destruction (2009), with a win for the former. In 2011, Robin starred in a Broadway production of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo to much praise. However, many consider his exclusion from the Tony Awards to be a snub, denying him the opportunity to achieve an EGOT before his passing in 2014.In part one of our deep dive into his career, we will focus on his rise to fame with Mork and Mindy, and his first three comedy specials.Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jacobkelly.substack.com/