Robin Williams? (Chris Reeve interview)

In a special I saw on Christopher Reeve recently he had told an interviewer that Robin Williams (who was an old friend of his) was the first person who visited him in the hospital after the devastating accident. I don't remember Reeve's exact words, but to paraphrase, he said Robin immediately had everyone laughing through their tears, and when Robin's around you just have to cheer up.

Williams sounds like an amazing guy. Does anyone have any insight into Robin, or stories to share about him? Is he as *good* and decent deep down as he seems to be?

I remember hearing the rumor that Robin paid for a portion of Christopher's medical treatment (denied by Williams).

He has 3 kids, a crazy fun mom, and hes also Lance Armstrongs good friend! I feel as if Robin has a depressed side (as most comics DO). The only bad thing ever out there about him (besides his overly hairy body) was a lawsuit a female charged him with giving her Herpes yrs ago. I think he is just a truly good soul!

He also visited Sharon Osborne when she was very sick. IIRC, she had a secret crush on him and Ozzie called him and told him about it and he came over to see her.

Giselle (he sounds like a good friend to have)

Didn't he used to party hard with John Belushi? I recall reading something to the effect that Belushi's death was something of a wake-up call to Robin Williams.

Was he there that night?

I think he and Robert De Niro were doing drugs with Belushi the night before he died. Maybe that experience had something to do with Williams eventually getting straight himself.

Reeve also denied that as well, though I wouldn't doubt if Williams did help out financially, at least before Reeve got his own show biz career going again. The story goes that he showed up at Reeve's hospital within days of the injury dressed as a doctor and announcing that he was there to do a proctology exam on the patient. He seems to have a side career relieving friends' misery; someone already posted here about the Sharon Osbourne thing, and he would call Spielberg every night while he was in Poland shooting Schindler's List just to give him a few minutes of jokes to get him over the horrible stuff he was filming during the day.

I'll tell you a personal story of Williams - I was covering the Academy Awards as a reporter the year that he won for Good Will Hunting. After the ceremony, I happened to be outside the Shrine Auditorium when he came out of the Governors' Ball with his wife and mother (since deceased) and new golden friend. He asked for his limo to pick him up. The Shrine is next to USC, and a bunch of students had gathered out there to stargaze and such. When they saw Williams they called out to him, yelling congratulations and the like. He went over to them, shook many of hands, let some of them hold his Oscar and then took a camera from one of the students, gave it to a security guard and had him take his picture with the kids behind him. It was one of those rare genuine moments of happiness and fun, and it gave me a lot of insight into who he really is.

A friend was a stand-up comic. She says that long after Robin had become a Big Name, he would come to comedy clubs and blatantly steal the material of the up- and-comers, who would be outraged to find that he had used their jokes on the Tonight Show or some other prominent venue, without attribution and without payment.

I hated to hear this. I think he's a wonderful talent, a great actor, and I hoped he'd be a decent human being.

.:. Craig

Maybe it was sour grapes?

Big Name, he would come to comedy clubs and blatantly steal the material of the up-and-comers, who would be outraged to find that he had used their jokes on the Tonight Show or some other prominent venue, without attribution and without payment.

i can believe that. on that last hbo special williams had (which was lame as shitl), he did a joke that i had heard at least a year before from another