The American actor and comedian Robin Williams (1951–2014) starred in films, television and video games throughout a career that spanned nearly four decades. Known for his fast-paced, improvisational style and for playing a wide variety of characters, he was described by Screen Actors Guild president Ken Howard as "a performer of limitless versatility, equally adept at comedy and drama, whether scripted or improv". He is often regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time.

Williams's career began in 1977 with minor roles in the film Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses? and the television shows The Richard Pryor Show and Laugh-In. The guest role of an alien named Mork in a 1978 episode of the sitcom Happy Days earned him positive reviews, and led to the spin-off Mork & Mindy, focusing on his character's experiences on Earth. Running for four seasons, the show was Williams's breakthrough and earned him his first Golden Globe Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. By the early 1980s, Williams wanted to do mainstream acting, and made his film debut in a lead role in the musical comedy Popeye (1980), a critical failure that earned thrice its budget. Williams then took on more serious parts in the comedy-dramas The World According to Garp (1982) and Moscow on the Hudson (1984). He won two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for the television specials Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin (1987) and ABC Presents A Royal Gala (1988). He received his first of three Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for playing disc jockey Adrian Cronauer in the war comedy Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), in which he improvised some of his scenes.

Further critical acclaim followed with Williams's lead roles in Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990) and The Fisher King (1991). He also found greater commercial success in the 1990s. Many of his films during this period grossed more than $100 million, including the fantasy Hook (1991), the animated musical Aladdin (1992), the comedy-drama Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), the adventure Jumanji (1995) and the comedy The Birdcage (1996). Aladdin, in which he improvised 52 characters, was the highest-grossing film of the year. Mrs. Doubtfire, which he also produced, won him a third Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy; he had previously won for Good Morning, Vietnam and The Fisher King. While hailed "the funniest person alive" by Entertainment Weekly in 1997, Williams wanted to do more serious work as an actor around this time. Such opportunities arose with the roles of a therapist in the psychological drama Good Will Hunting (1997) and a man in heaven who attempts to save his wife from hell in the fantasy drama What Dreams May Come (1998). The former won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In the 2000s, Williams continued to do voice roles, including in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Robots (2005) and Happy Feet (2006, and its 2011 sequel). Pursuing more diverse parts, he took on the darker roles of an emotionally disturbed photo developer in One Hour Photo (2002), a writer who is involved in the murder of a teenage girl in Insomnia (2002) and a radio host who is caught up with a troubled fan in The Night Listener (2006). He returned to comedy in 2006 with the family adventure RV, the satire Man of the Year and the fantasy Night at the Museum. The latter was the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year and spawned two sequels in 2009 and 2014. He began touring for the one-man stand-up comedy show Weapons of Self Destruction (2008), focusing on "social and political absurdities", and starred in the Disney film Old Dogs (2009). In the 2010s, he starred in the sitcom The Crazy Ones (2013–2014), played supporting roles in the 2013 features The Big Wedding and The Butler, and had three films released posthumously, including the sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

Film

Table featuring feature films with Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1977	Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses?	Lawyer / Man with Tooth Ache	Film debut
1980	Popeye	Popeye
1982	The World According to Garp	T.S. Garp
1983	The Survivors	Donald Quinelle
1984	Moscow on the Hudson	Vladimir Ivanov
1986	The Best of Times	Jack Dundee
	Club Paradise	Jack Moniker
	Seize the Day	Tommy Wilhelm
1987	Good Morning, Vietnam	Adrian Cronauer	Nominated for Best Actor Oscar
1988	The Adventures of Baron Munchausen	King of the Moon	Credited as Ray D. Tutto
	Portrait of a White Marriage	Air Conditioning Salesman	Uncredited cameo
1989	Dead Poets Society	John Keating	Nominated for Best Actor Oscar
1990	Cadillac Man	Joey O'Brien
	Awakenings	Dr. Malcolm Sayer
1991	Shakes the Clown	Mime Jerry, Class Instructor	Cameo appearance; Credited as Marty Fromage
	Dead Again	Doctor Cozy Carlisle
	The Fisher King	Henry "Parry" Sagan	Nominated for Best Actor Oscar
	Hook	Peter Banning / Peter Pan
1992	FernGully: The Last Rainforest	Batty Koda	Voice role
	Aladdin	Genie and Peddler	Voice role
	Toys	Leslie Zevo
1993	Mrs. Doubtfire	Daniel Hillard / Euphegenia Doubtfire	Also producer
1994	Being Human	Hector
1995	Nine Months	Dr. Kosevich
	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar	John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt	Uncredited cameo
	Jumanji	Alan Parrish
1996	The Birdcage	Armand Goldman
	Jack	Jack Powell
	Aladdin and the King of Thieves	Genie	Voice role; Direct-to-video
	The Secret Agent	The Professor	Uncredited
	Hamlet	Osric
1997	Fathers' Day	Dale Putley
	Deconstructing Harry	Mel
	Flubber	Professor Philip Brainard
	Good Will Hunting	Sean Maguire	Won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
1998	What Dreams May Come	Chris Nielsen
	Patch Adams	Patch Adams
1999	Jakob the Liar	Jakob Heym	Also executive producer
	Bicentennial Man	Andrew Martin
	Get Bruce	Himself	Documentary
2001	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	Dr. Know	Voice role; Cameo appearance
2002	One Hour Photo	Seymour "Sy" Parrish
	Death to Smoochy	"Rainbow" Randolph Smiley
	Insomnia	Walter Finch
2004	The Final Cut	Alan W. Hakman
	House of D	Pappass
	Noel	Charlie Boyd / The Priest	Uncredited
2005	Robots	Fender Pinwheeler	Voice role
	The Big White	Paul Barnell
	The Aristocrats	Himself	Documentary
2006	The Night Listener	Gabriel Noone
	RV	Bob Munro
	Everyone's Hero	Napoleon Cross	Voice role; Uncredited
	Man of the Year	Tom Dobbs
	Happy Feet	Ramon and Lovelace	Voice role
	Night at the Museum	Theodore Roosevelt
2007	License to Wed	Reverend Frank
	August Rush	Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace
2009	World's Greatest Dad	Lance Clayton
	Shrink	Jack Holden
	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	Theodore Roosevelt / Theodore Roosevelt Bust (voice)
	Old Dogs	Dan Rayburn
2011	Happy Feet Two	Ramon and Lovelace	Voice role
2013	The Big Wedding	Father Monighan
	The Butler	Dwight D. Eisenhower
	The Face of Love	Roger
2014	Boulevard	Nolan Mack
	The Angriest Man in Brooklyn	Henry Altmann
	A Merry Friggin' Christmas	Mitch Mitchler	Released posthumously
	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	Theodore Roosevelt, Voice of Garuda
2015	Absolutely Anything	Dennis the Dog (voice)
2023	Once Upon a Studio	Genie	Voice role; Unused archive recordings; Released posthumously

Television

Table featuring television programs with Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1977	Sorority '62	Henry	Television pilot
	The Richard Pryor Show	Various characters	2 episodes
	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Regular performer
	Eight Is Enough	Band Member	Episode: "The Return of Auntie V"
1978	America 2-Night	Jason Shine	2 episodes
1978–1979	Happy Days	Mork	2 episodes
1978–1982	Mork & Mindy
1979	Out of the Blue		Episode: "Random's Arrival"
1982	E.T. and Friends: Magical Movie Visitors	Himself (host)	Television special
	Faerie Tale Theatre	Frog/Prince Robin	Episode: "Tale of the Frog Prince"
	SCTV Network	Various characters	Episode: "Jane Eyrehead"
1982–1983	Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour	Mork (voice)
1984	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Robin Williams/Adam Ant"
	Pryor's Place	Gaby	Episode: "Sax Education"
1986	58th Academy Awards	Himself (co-host)	Television special
	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Robin Williams/Paul Simon"
1987	Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin	Various characters	Television special
	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam	Baby-san (voice)	Documentary
1988	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	Episode: "Robin Williams/James Taylor"
1990	The Earth Day Special	Everyman	Television special
1990–2012	Sesame Street	Himself
1991	A Wish for Wings That Work	The Kiwi (voice)	Television special Credited as Sudy Nim
1992, 1994	The Larry Sanders Show	Himself	2 episodes
1994	Homicide: Life on the Street	Robert Ellison	Episode: "Bop Gun"
	In Search of Dr. Seuss	The Father	Television film
1997	Friends	Tomas	Uncredited Episode: "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion"
1999	L.A. Doctors	Hugo Kinsley	Episode: "Just Duet"
2000	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Himself	1 episode
2002	The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch	Hans Hänkie	Television film
2003	Freedom: A History of Us	Josiah Quincy; Ulysses S. Grant; Missouri farmer; Wilbur Wright; Orville Wright	4 episodes
	Life with Bonnie	Kevin Powalski	Episode: "Psychic"
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Merritt Rook	Episode: "Authority"
2009	SpongeBob SquarePants	Himself	Episode: "SpongeBob's Truth or Square"
2010	Saturday Night Live		Episode: "Robert De Niro/Diddy – Dirty Money"
2012	Wilfred	Dr. Eddy / Himself	Episode: "Progress"
2012	Louie	Himself	Episode: "Barney/Never"
2013–2014	The Crazy Ones	Simon Roberts

Theater

Table featuring theatre roles with Robin Williams

Year(s)	Title	Role	Venue	Ref(s)
1988	Waiting for Godot	Estragon	Lincoln Center Theatre, New York
2011	Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo	Tiger	Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway

Video games

Table featuring video game roles of Robin Williams

Year	Title	Role	Ref(s)
1997	Disney's Math Quest with Aladdin	Genie (voice)

Video recordings

Table featuring video recordings with Robin Williams

Year	Title	Ref(s)
1978	Off the Wall / Live at the Roxy
1983	An Evening with Robin Williams
1986	Robin Williams: An Evening at the Met
2002	Robin Williams: Live on Broadway
2009	Weapons of Self Destruction

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by Robin Williams