Table Of Content

Title Page Page: Cover Page Copyright Notice Page: Cover Page Dedication Page: Cover Page Epigraph Page: vii Prologue Page: ix Part One: Comet Page: 3 Chapter 1: Punky and Lord Posh Page: 5 Chapter 2: The Escape Artist Page: 27 Chapter 3: Legalized Insanity Page: 55 Chapter 4: My Favorite Orkan Page: 83 Chapter 5: The Robin Williams Show Page: 106 Chapter 6: Mork Blows His Cork Page: 125 Chapter 7: Bungalow 3 Page: 145 Part Two: Star Page: 163 Chapter 8: Mr. Happy Page: 165 Chapter 9: Tough Love Page: 186 Chapter 10: Gooooooood Morning Page: 204 Chapter 11: O Captain! Page: 223 Chapter 12: Dreamlike Parts, with Phantasmagoric Associations Page: 243 Chapter 13: Father Man Page: 263 Chapter 14: Hot Flashes Page: 281 Part Three: Supernova Page: 301 Chapter 15: The Golden Dude Page: 303 Chapter 16: Fade to White Page: 324 Chapter 17: Weapons of Self Destruction Page: 345 Chapter 18: The Tiger in Winter Page: 364 Chapter 19: Gone Page: 384 Chapter 20: Everything Will Be Okay Page: 405 Chapter 21: The Big Room Page: 422 Epilogue Page: 435 Photographs Page: 440 Robin Williams: Selected Works and Awards Page: 440 Notes Page: 447 Acknowledgments Page: 508 Index Page: 512 Also by Dave Itzkoff Page: 529 Additional Praise for Robin Page: ii About the Author Page: ii Newsletter Sign-up Page: 6 Copyright Page: xii

Description:

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S CHOICE
A SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A VULTURE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

"A generous, appreciative biography of Robin Williams by a New York Times culture reporter. The author, who had access to Williams and members of the comedian’s family, is an unabashed fan but doesn’t shy away from the abundant messiness in his subject’s personal life."—The New York Times Book Review

From New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff, the definitive biography of Robin Williams – a compelling portrait of one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood entertainers.

From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations – all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed.

But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’s comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like Dead Poets Society; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Fisher King; Aladdin; and Mrs. Doubtfire, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in Good Will Hunting he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent.

Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression – topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews – and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.