This week Hollywood lost another great. Robin Williams was one of the best comedy actors out there, mostly remembered for dressing as a woman to be his children’s nanny in Mrs Doubtfire and his Oscar winning role in Good Will Hunting. He could be funny and he could be serious. But he also brought his unique style acting to sci-fi and fantasy roles. Here are the top roles I remember him from.
Mork & Mindy – the role that kick started his career. It may have been a sitcom, but he played the awkward alien brilliantly. Those like me, that were a mere baby (or not born yet) when the show aired are sure to have stumbled across repeats on TV, and if not have certainly heard about this iconic character.
Aladdin – ok this was just his voice, but even without his unique facial expressions he could make us laugh as a blue genie in a bottle.
Hook – Playing Peter Pan all grown up, was great for me as a kid, especially as I always loved wondering what happens next in the Disney films. He made us scream at the screen for Peter to remember his childhood and fight the evil Hook.
What Dreams May Come – I think this is the first non-comedy role I saw of his and what a beautiful performance in a very dark film. A very moving story of a man’s fight to be with his dead wife and pull her out of the dark into their joint beautiful heaven,
Bicentennial Man – I think this is one of those films that flew under the radar. I never remember it’s big release, it was always one of those films on TV and every time it was on I watched it and loved the romantic tale between a woman and a robot that slowly becomes a man. It’s like an adult Pinocchio.
Robin Williams’ genre credits include:
Mork (on Happy Days)
Mork & Mindy
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Hook
Being Human
Jumanji
Flubber
What Dreams May Come
Bicentennial Man
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
The Final Cut
Robots
Night at the Museum (II & III)
Image source: thedrum.com
