On August 11th, 2014, the great comedian Robin Williams died at age 63, possibly by his own hand. He had been battling depression for quite some time. I didn't see much of him; I saw Disney's rendition of Aladdin far too long ago for me to fully appreciate Williams' role as the voice of the Genie. I did, however, get to enjoy him as the voice of Fender in the movie Robots, and later as the Teddy Roosevelt model in Night at the Museum when I saw it back in late January of 2007.
My mother told me the story of Williams' audition for the role of Mork in the TV show Mork and Mindy. The casting people were asking the candidates (for lack of a better word) to show how an alien might sit down. While the other sat down in a regular way with some little oddity here or there, Williams sat on his head.
He is also remembered for his serious roles, such as The Dead Poets Society. I only saw a clip from that one, but what performance. In particular, the way he said "Capre Diem" makes it one of the most memorable movie quotes ever.
Robin Williams was a splendid actor and comic. He will be greatly missed.
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