Over the course of his long and distinguished career Robin Williams won four Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmys, and an Oscar. And although he started off his career as a stand-up comedian who became a household name as the star of TV’s Mork and Mindy, a silly show about Aliens, some of the finest work he went on to create were in some superb highly dramatic movies.
Now as the World is coming to terms with the very sad news about his untimely death, we at TheGayUK have chosen 10 of our favourite ROBIN WILLIAM movies to remember him by. One of which, BOULEVARD, which tackles a subject dear to our own hearts, has not been released yet, and the word coming from the Previews is that Robin Williams is completely magnificent in it.
In alphabetical order…
ALADDIN: Robin Williams is credited as ad-libbing most of his role as the Voice of the Genie with his hilarious performance in this Disney Animated movie. So much so that they created a special Golden Globe Award for him for his work.
AWAKENINGS: In this movie based on the true story of British neurologist Olivier Sacks, whose pioneering pharmacological studies help achieve a breakthrough with a catatonic patient, Robin Williams gives what critic Roger Ebert described as one of the finest performances of his career in this stunning Penny Marshall film.
BOULEVARD: In this new movie still to be released Robin Williams plays a man who has waited almost five decades to confront his own homosexuality. The Hollywood Reporter writes it’s tender but unsentimental take on a story that benefits from finesse, and claims that it is one of the least showy performances of his career.
DEAD POETS SOCIETY: In this inspirational drama Robin Williams played an embattled English teacher at a private academy in a movie now hailed as one of the very best of the 1980’s. Williams got another Best Actor Nomination for his pitch perfect performance.
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM: In Barry Levinson’s 1987, Robin Williams superbly played an unorthodox and irreverent DJ begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam. He won a Golden Globe for his performance, and another Nomination for an Oscar.
GOOD WILL HUNTING: Playing the therapist who helps Will Hunting move beyond his troubled past, Williams provided an impetus for the film’s touching final act while delivering some of his best work ever. After receiving Oscar nominations for his work in Good Morning America, Dead Poets Society, and The Fisher King, Williams finally scored a win this role.
MRS DOUBTFIRE: Robin Williams won a Golden Globe for his totally hilarious performance as an actor whom after a bitter divorce disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife. He had been in talks to reprise this, one of his most popular roles, in a sequel.
ONE HOUR PHOTO: Robin Williams performance as the creepy employee of a one-hour photo lab becomes obsessed with a young suburban family was scarily chilling and showed the full range of his remarkable talent.
THE BIRDCAGE: In this Hollywood remake of the classic La Cage Aux Folles, Robin Williams generous performance as the straight man to a very camp Nathan Lane, was one of the highlights of this delightful movie from 1996.
THE FISHER KING: This was the second movie Robin Williams made with filmmaker Terry Gilliam. This heartfelt 1991 drama is about an abrasive radio DJ who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a homeless man (Williams) who has a poignant connection to his past. This was Robin Williams on the top of his form for which he collected another Golden Globe Award, as well as a Best Actor Oscar Nomination.
