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Remembering Robin Williams: His Memorable Roles
Other | Tuesday 12th August 2014 | Francesco
Today is another tragic day for cinema. Robin Williams died yesterday. He was 63. An iconic actor, an extraordinary performer, part of the history of cinema.
But the best way to say goodbye is to remember him for his various and amazing acting roles that we will treasure forever.
He started his acting career in a cult TV series called Mork & Mindy. For this role of an alien called Mork, he first gained recognition and fame. Later he obtained his first movie part, Popeye. Then his career became unstoppable. His first iconic role was in Dead Poets Society.
Go on,lean in. Listen you hear it?
Carpe... hear it?..
Carpe,carpe diem, seize the day boys,
make your lives Extraordinary!
Then how we can forget his performance in Mrs Doubtfire? A divorced father just wants to spend time with his kids, so he dresses up and pretends to be the nanny Mrs Doubtfire. He makes them laugh, spends time with them and entertains us along the way. What about Jumanji? I saw this movie at least ten times when I was a kid. Williams is a grown up boy, trapped in a game he started as an adolescent.
Captain, my Captain. Who knows where that comes from? Anybody? Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in this class you can either call me Mr. Keating, or if you're slightly more daring, O Captain my Captain.
But his most important role was in Good Will Hunting. He won an Academy Award for his interpretation of the doctor Sean Maguire, a psychologist who tries to help Will Hunting, a twenty-year-old genius with a lot of personal problems. An extraordinary movie helped by the unforgettable performance of Robin.
You don't know about real loss, 'cause that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself. I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. I look at you. I don't see an intelligent, confident man. I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius, Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you.
Then there was his terrific part in Patch Adams as a wannabe doctor who tries to cure his patients with his philosophy of treating illnesses with humour. He was part of Steven Spielberg's Hook, starring as Peter Pan. His starred in Good Morning, Vietnam and his quote "Goooood morning, Vietnam. It's 6.00 hours" became part of cinema's history. He was also the main villain of Nolan's Insomnia, impersonating a pitiless serial killer who declares war on Al Pacino's character, a detective who day by day is unable to sleep. He was the android with human feelings in Bicentennial Man.
Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death!
He dealt with tragic themes of death and accepting the departure of a loved one, with such a natural and emotional way of acting. In one of his best, but not most famous roles, in What Dreams May Come, he played a dead psychian who explores the afterlife, heaven and hell, in search of a way of reconnecting with his wife who is still alive. A sort of fairy tale about death, love and Heaven.
A whole human life is just a heartbeat here in Heaven. Then we'll all be together forever.
So let's remember him as the great actor he was. Like Chuck Palahniuk wrote "We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."
Tell us what's your favourite Robin Williams' role, tweet it via @guestlistdotnet
Francesco Bacci
