I don't usually blog about celebrity deaths when they occur....though they do tend to play on my mind a lot. It always strikes me as quite peculiar, how the death of somebody you never actually knew can affect you so much...I always feel shocked and I always feel as though I somehow knew them.
I have read quite a few blog posts on the subject of his passing today....most focusing on his battle with depression, some focusing on the nature of tweets sent by various people, some focusing on aspects of his work and what it meant to them.
I don't particularly want to do any of these things.....I don't feel that I have anything worthwhile to add.
But I feel the need to somehow mark his terribly sad passing, and acknowledge him as one of my favorite actors.
When I studied performing arts at college a few years ago, I was asked at an audition who my favorite actors were....I thought long and hard about it....I had always tended to list whoever I found attractive at the time as my "favourite actor" when of course they were not.
After giving it some thought, I listed 3 people that I believed to have a remarkable talent for bringing a character to life and making them believable.....for always moving me (and many others).....they were Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams.
And out of those 3 favorite actors of mine, Robin Williams was always the dearest to me.....while I admire and appreciate the talent that Tom Hanks and Dustin Hoffman have and hold them in such high regard for that, there was something more with Robin Williams....I didn't know him but I liked HIM, not just his acting ability or the characters he played....but seeing him in interviews, seeing his interactions with people....I liked the person. He seemed so genuine.
And of course, he made me laugh.
I grew up watching and loving his movies, and I don't think I've ever found anyone as funny as him.....
Laughter is such a wonderful gift to give, and he gave it to the world for so many years. What a truly special legacy to leave.
And so, as awful an end to his life as this is and as much as I do agree that using it to highlight mental health awareness and to encourage those suffering from depression to seek help, I don't want to focus on his death.
I want to focus on the happiness, light and laughter he brought to the world for so many years throughout such an incredible career.
It's too hard to narrow down my list of favourites as he made countless movies (which without him would possibly have been mediocre at best) into lifelong favourites for millions of us.
Can you imagine anybody else as Mrs Doubtfire?
What would Aladdin have been without the Genie?
Who else could have so movingly pulled off playing a child in a man's body in Jack?
And who else could crossover from such comedic roles to play such a chilling role in One Hour Photo or an Oscar winning role in Good Will Hunting?
Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam, Jumanji, Toys, The Birdcage, Ferngully, Awakenings, Patch Adams, The Fisher King, Insomnia, Man Of The Year, RV, Happy Feet, Night At The Museum, Hook and so many more movies come to mind....
I wanted to use an image on this post, but none of the ones I found seemed to say what I wanted....so I made my own using a quote from Jack, which is one of my favorite movies of his.
Goodnight and God bless Robin Williams, thank you for the laughter.
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