Robin

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.

Dave Itzkoff is the author of Mad as Hell, Cocaine's Son, and Lads. He is a culture reporter at The New York Times, where he writes regularly about film, television, theater, music, and popular culture. He previously worked at Spin, Maxim, and Details, and his work has appeared in GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, and other publications. He lives in New York City.

Prologue 1 Part One: Comet 1. Punky and Lord Posh 7 2. The Escape Artist 28 3. Legalized Insanity 56 4. My Favorite Orkan 84 5. The Robin Williams Show 107 6. Mork Blows His Cork 126 7. Bungalow 3 146 Part Two: Star 8. Mr. Happy 167 9.Tough Love 187 10. Gooooooood Morning 205 11. O Captain! 224 12. Dreamlike Parts, with Phantasmagoric Associations 244 13. Father Man 264 14. Hot Flashes 282 Part Three: Supernova 15. The Golden Dude 305 16. Fade to White 325 17. Weapons of Self Destruction 346 18. The Tiger in Winter 365 19. Gone 385 20. Everything Will Be Okay 406 21. The Big Room 423 Epilogue 437 Robin Williams: Selected Works and Awards 441 Notes 449 Acknowledgments 509 Index 513