by Dave Itzkoff
Crystal … gave Robin a musical shout-out: 70th Academy Awards, March 23, 1998. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYR2YJhRwTU.
“This might be the one time I’m speechless”: 70th Academy Awards, March 23, 1998. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Egi5V_jNU.
“He saw me and he made this sound, like, ‘Oooooohhhh,’”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.
“you look around you and you see people you know”: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, “Reflecting on a Journey.”
“It’s like, the golden dude”: Lynn Elber, “Williams Finally Gets His ‘Dude,’” Associated Press, March 26, 1998.
one tier in front of Shirley Temple Black: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, “Reflecting on a Journey.”
“as well-liked a figure as today’s Hollywood has”: Kenneth Turan, “Surprise! Cameron Subdued,” Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1998.
Robin “never let his Oscar out of his right hand”: Arthur Grace, Robin Williams: A Singular Portrait (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2016), pp. 160–61.
A nine-page log of congratulatory phone calls: RWC, box 13, folder 8.
“Every now and again the Oscar goes to the right person”: Ibid.
“Dear Rob, Man!!! You won!! How fuckin’ great”: RWC, box 13, folder 9.
“Alan, I want you to meet a new little friend of mine”: Author interview with Alan Curtiss.
“I hate that movie”: Roger Ebert, Twitter post, May 28, 2011. Archived at https://twitter.com/ebertchicago/status/74603410325909504.
CHAPTER 16. FADE TO WHITE
It was hardly what you’d call a synagogue: Author interview with Steven Haft.
“People expected too much of him”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.
“people tend to think I’m Jewish”: Naomi Pfefferman, “So, Nu?” Jewish Journal, September 16, 1999.
“It’s the way the world looks to me”: The Final Cut, directed by Omar Naim, 2004.
“Was it following him down a wormhole of personal angst?”: Author interview with Steven Haft.
“It’s not black and white”: Insomnia, “Day for Night,” Warner Home Video, 2010.
budgeted at $70 million: Jenny Peters, “Death Is but a ‘Dream,’” Stevens Point (WI) Journal, June 27, 1998.
the production traveled up and down California: “Movie Crews Under Close Scrutiny in Glacier,” Great Falls (MT) Tribune, July 3, 1997.
“People are really looking for some hope”: Amy Wallace, “Movies for the Millennium,” Los Angeles Times, September 4, 1998.
“Do I attend church every Sunday? No”: Chuck Arnold, Chatter (column), People, September 21, 1998.
“he had to reach some places that were difficult for him”: Author interview with Cheri Minns.
“If it doesn’t choke you with emotion”: Carrie Rickey, “From Heaven to Hell in Allegory of Marriage,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 2, 1998.
“he is a brilliant comedian who is no more than a passable actor”: Kenneth Turan, “‘Dream’s’ Team Falters,” Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1998.
“I don’t need the coin”: “Robin Williams Can’t Resist Movie Roles,” Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph, November 10, 1998.
“trots out every hoary plot device”: Matt Brunson, “Batman v Superman, Doctor Butcher, M.D., Patch Adams Among New Home Entertainment Titles,” Creative Loafing, August 10, 2016.
“shamelessly sappy and emotionally manipulative”: Joe Leydon, “Review: ‘Patch Adams,’” Variety, December 13, 1998.
Robin discharged CAA: Claudia Eller, “CAA Loses Agent—and Top Star—to Ovitz,” Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1999.
Peter Kassovitz … had survived World War II: Ginette Vincendeau, La Haine (New York: I. B. Tauris, 2005).
Spielberg, who had often phoned Robin: Anthony Breznican, “Laughter ‘Sustained Him’: Directors on the Genius of Robin Williams,” Entertainment Weekly, August 11, 2014.
“He and Marsha were looking for things that tamed the beast”: Author interview with Steven Haft.
climbing atop the seats of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: 71st Academy Awards, March 21, 1999. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cTR6fk8frs.
“the Italian Robin Williams”: Pfefferman, “So, Nu?”
they had no idea about Life Is Beautiful at the time: Jay Boyar, “Robin Williams Will Head Back to Standup,” Orlando Sentinel, September 22, 1999.
one of the well-wishers who shook Benigni’s hand: 71st Academy Awards, March 21, 1999. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybgg4H4zTHo.
“People say they’ve seen this before”: Pfefferman, “So, Nu?”
“the American Roberto Benigni”: Jack Garner, “Williams’ Restrained Performance Boosts ‘Jakob’ into ‘Must-See’ Film,” Gannett News Service, September 23, 1999.
“Robin Williams, enough already”: Kenneth Turan, “News Isn’t Good as Williams Allies with Sentimentality Again,” Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1999.
taking in less than $5 million: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=jakobtheliar.htm.
adapted from two novels: Israeli Wins European Contest but Not All Approve (column), Philadelphia Inquirer, May 11, 1998.
Disney had to put the project on a months-long pause: “Williams Film Getting Too Costly for Disney,” Chicago Tribune, November 19, 1998.
It was resuscitated when Columbia Pictures struck a deal with Disney: Amy Wallace, “Disney, Columbia to Team on ‘Bicentennial Man,’” Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1999.
“high-minded pathos never compensates for submerging Williams’ comic talents”: Bruce Westbrook, Videoviews (column), Indiana (PA) Gazette, June 25, 2000.
bringing in just $58 million: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=bicentennialman.htm.
“‘Why don’t you do another Fisher King or Mrs. Doubtfire?’”: Phillip McCarthy, “What Nightmares May Come,” Melbourne (AU) Sunday Age, March 21, 1999.
“‘If you ever make another movie like that, I’ll hurt you’”: Kenneth Turan, “It’s Thrilling to Be Here, Really,” Los Angeles Times, January 16, 2002.
“I have been working straight for five years”: McCarthy, “What Nightmares May Come.”
he had a severely blocked coronary artery: Tina Kelley, “Artery Blocked, Letterman Has Heart Bypass Surgery,” New York Times, January 15, 2000.
he brought out the team of surgeons and nurses: David Hinckley, “Letterman’s Return Is All Heart,” New York Daily News, February 22, 2000.
dressed in surgical scrubs and rubber gloves: Late Show with David Letterman, February 21, 2000. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2igGFIqpJw.
“It was stressful and I was tired. I think people were worried”: Author interview with David Letterman.
filmed in the fall of 2000: RWC, box 11, folder 16.
“They’re no longer bound by the laws of likability”: The Charlie Rose Show, August 21, 2002.
he trained one-on-one with a photo technician: Ibid.
taped interviews of convicted serial killers: Duane Dudek, “Williams Enjoying Stand-Up, Darker Roles,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 9, 2002.
“a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment”: RWC, box 11, folder 16.
flattered by moviegoers who said that they didn’t recognize him: David Germain, “Robin Williams Turns Menacing in Sundance Thriller,” Associated Press, January 17, 2002.
“We’re walking to the set, in public”: Author interview with Cheri Minns.
“a wonderful, nasty movie”: Late Show with David Letterman, March 28, 2002.
“He presents the logic and rationalization of the character”: Insomnia, “180°.”
“‘When you started cutting up the bodies, what did you do?’”: Insomnia, “Day for Night.”
“There’s a lot of log rolling” and “a couple of bars”: Jim Ferguson, “Insomnia,” Asian Connections, May 2002.
“We had these wild
parties in Alaska”: Insomnia premiere, May 23, 2002. Archived at http://idpr.tumblr.com/post/118299050461/an-interview-with-robin-williams-at-the-la.
a milestone he celebrated with his family and friends: John Leland, “On and Off Stage with Robin Williams,” New York Times, August 1, 2016.
“Once I hit fifty, I’m looking for characters”: Turan, “It’s Thrilling to Be Here, Really.”
she died in her Tiburon home on September 4, 2001: Steve Rubenstein, “Laurie Williams—Comedian’s Mother,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 8, 2001.
“she wore mini-skirts till the day she died”: Author interview with Zak Williams.
“I enjoy my own company. I get along very well with me”: Conti, McLaurin & Williams Family Histories, p. 53.
“all in all, it’s been a kick in the shorts”: Ibid., p. 55.
“I really think we were put on earth to know great joy”: Ibid., p. 56.
“Think young and you’ll never grow old”: Rubenstein, “Laurie Williams—Comedian’s Mother.”
Laurie’s body was cremated: Nancy Dillon, “Robin Williams’ Ashes Scattered in Same Place as His Mother’s Remains,” New York Daily News, August 25, 2014.
“People treated it like we had just lifted the siege of Richmond”: The Charlie Rose Show, August 21, 2002.
a six-month stretch on his calendar: Boyar, “Robin Williams Will Head Back to Standup.”
“He got into that place, that multimillion-dollar film place”: Author interview with Eddie Izzard.
“He would do ten minutes about wherever he was”: Author interview with Peter Asher.
“all over the place would be an understatement”: Dan DeLuca, “Wound-Up Williams Does Stand-Up Again,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 9, 2002.
“a particularly toxic little bonbon”: Ann Hornaday, “‘Smoochy’ Hits Smack in the Kisser,” Washington Post, March 29, 2002.
slightly more than $8 million: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deathtosmoochy.htm.
rehired CAA to represent him: Claude Brodesser, “Williams Sheds Vet Rep in Return to Fold at CAA,” Variety, April 10, 2002.
“Robin Williams is a shockingly effective counterweight”: David Edelstein, “Hard Day’s Night,” Slate, May 24, 2002.
Robin was in a combative mood: Robin Williams: Live on Broadway, HBO, 2002.
“You can actually hear careers ending”: Tom Moon, “The Night Belongs to Norah Jones,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 2003.
“The Grim Rapper”: Robin Williams, Robin Williams Live 2002, Sony Legacy, 2002.
“when he’s playing serious roles”: Elvis Mitchell, “That Orderly World of Appearances He Lives In? It’s About to Explode,” New York Times, August 21, 2002.
“people at home haven’t forgotten them”: On Tour with Robin Williams, American Forces Network Europe, 2002. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAaz_FT7USA.
“that’s why you think, ‘war—how insane’”: On Tour with Robin Williams: Phil Bronstein, “Good Morning, Iraq,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 9, 2005.
“I know that this isn’t the end of the world”: American Forces Network Europe.
the first of many trips: Mark Thompson, “The Military Absolutely Loved Robin Williams,” Time, August 12, 2014; and RWC, box 12, folder 7.
“a weird ride except you realize the consequence of the ride”: Bronstein, “Good Morning, Iraq.”
Robin, who had traveled there only with Spencer … and Minns, found the emptiness unsettling: Author interview with Cheri Minns; and Tim Cook, “Robin Williams and His Connection to Winnipeg,” Canadian Press, August 13, 2014.
“Winnipeg is one of the most dismal places, as far as I’m concerned”: Author interview with Cheri Minns.
“My film career was not going too well. One day I walked into a store and saw a little bottle of Jack Daniel’s”: Rader, “Guess Who’s Back on TV.”
“You feel warm and kind of wonderful”: Decca Aitkenhead, “Robin Williams: The G2 Interview,” Guardian, September 20, 2010.
“I sounded like a wind chime walking down the street”: Rader, “Guess Who’s Back on TV.”
CHAPTER 17. WEAPONS OF SELF DESTRUCTION
presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award: 62nd Golden Globe Awards, January 16, 2005. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0hYctu65yw.
“You keep thinking, ‘I can handle this’”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“you do stuff that causes disgust”: Aitkenhead, “Robin Williams: The G2 Interview.”
an early experiment in digital distribution: “‘Final Cut’ Goes Out Digitally,” Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2004.
“another of his almost sickeningly lovable weirdos”: “Coming Attractions,” Hartford Courant, April 24, 2005.
The MBST firm … was acquired in July 2005: “Leading Hollywood Management Firm Joins CKX,” press release, July 27, 2005. Archived at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leading-hollywood-management-firm-joins-ckx-54768512.html.
“We started doing these weird interviews”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.
Christopher Reeve died on October 10, 2004: Douglas Martin, “Christopher Reeve, 52, Symbol of Courage, Dies,” New York Times, October 12, 2004.
Reeve’s wife, Dana, was diagnosed with lung cancer: Nadine Brozan, “Dana Reeve, Devoted Caretaker and Advocate, Is Dead at 44,” New York Times, March 8, 2006.
“I never knew he was on borrowed time”: Joanne Nathan, “Christopher Reeve: We Pay Tribute to a Hero,” Hello!, October 26, 2004.
He died on December 10, 2005: Mel Watkins, “Richard Pryor, Iconoclastic Comedian, Dies at 65,” New York Times, December 11, 2005.
“It was tough to see him near the end, with MS”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“It’s more selfish than that”: Aitkenhead, “Robin Williams: The G2 Interview.”
a Thanksgiving dinner with his family in 2005: Rader, “Guess Who’s Back on TV.”
“I just bought a $40,000 coke vial”: Courtney Rubin, “Sharon Stone Promotes a Good Cause at Cannes,” People, May 26, 2006.
“I realized I was pretty baked”: Aitkenhead, “Robin Williams: The G2 Interview.”
“When I was drinking, there was only one time”: WTF with Marc Maron, April 26, 2010.
“It got to a point where he wasn’t really functioning anymore”: Author interview with Zak Williams.
“It was me, but it was also everyone in the family”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“He kept things from me”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.
a Hazelden Foundation center in Newberg, Oregon: The Hazelden Foundation has since merged with the Betty Ford Center.
“You’ve got to sit back and go, okay”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“he put a little tube in his car to pump the fumes in”: Larry King Live, July 3, 2007.
details of Robin’s rehab stay were published in the National Enquirer: “Enquirer Exclusive: Robin Williams in Alcohol Rehab,” National Enquirer, August 9, 2006.
he was undergoing treatment: “Robin Williams Enters Rehab for Alcohol,” People, August 9, 2006.
“somebody got out of rehab, and shared what I had told”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“community is really important in the recovery process”: Author interview with Zak Williams.
“I’ve had various friends who have fallen off the wagon in dramatic ways, and he was one of them”: Author interview with Peter Asher.
They separated at the end of 2007: Diane Clehane, Mark Dagostino, Peter Mikelbank, and Andrea Orr, “Robin Williams Surprise Split,” People, April 14, 2008.
“Robin was a genius”: Author interview with Lillian Ross.
“We were all in this warm glow of Marsha”: Author interview with Alex Mallick-Williams.
took in more than $250 million: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=nightatthemuseum.htm.
Robin mi
ght not attend: Marilyn Beck, Organizer Excited About Comic Relief (column), Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal, September 28, 2006.
he was there to help kick off the show: Comic Relief 2006, November 18, 2006. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gCJ2hXP-eo.
“footage of Robin Williams hamming it up”: Robert Benziker, Pasa Pics (column), Santa Fe New Mexican, June 29–July 5, 2007.
Robin “is at his most annoying here”: James Ward, “You’ll Want to Revoke Lame ‘License to Wed,’” Nashville Tennessean, July 3, 2007.
“You get a small chip redeemable for one drink”: Rove Live, July 15, 2007.
“It’s always there”: Larry King Live, July 3, 2007.
“a wife who’s not afraid of me being free range”: Rove Live, July 15, 2007.
a man who “left a big footprint with a cork”: Fagan, “Robert Williams Dies—Winemaker, Bar Owner and Bon Vivant.”
someone “who loved sucking the juice out of life”: RWC, box 12, folder 24.
Marsha filed for divorce: Clehane, Dagostino, Mikelbank, and Orr, “Robin Williams Surprise Split.”
“We had already closed the L.A. office”: Author interview with Cyndi McHale.
“He was still wanting to come home”: Author interview with Alex Mallick-Williams.
Gerald Margolis, the Williams family’s attorney: Valerie J. Nelson, “L.A. Attorney Counseled Rolling Stones, R. Kelly,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2008.
“He was going to mediate because they both trusted him”: Author interview with Cyndi McHale.
“He had a huge room that was like a safe room”: Author interview with Lisa Birnbach.
“When he dropped by, it’s because he felt like going on”: Author interview with Mark Pitta.
“I was going to call the tour Remember the Alimony”: WTF with Marc Maron, April 26, 2010.
“It was a financial thing of going, no movies are on the horizon”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“I kept thinking it was a pulmonary thing”: Ibid.
“They said, ‘Ho, ho, ho, he’s not leaving here’”: Author interview with David Steinberg.
“It wasn’t like when Letterman went in with five blocked arteries”: Author interview with Robin Williams.
“We went for a short, easy, flat ride”: Author interview with Lance Armstrong. Armstrong’s Tour de France titles and other victories were later voided when he confessed to some allegations of doping.