by Dave Itzkoff
sobriety with birth of Zak
son Cody and
son Zak and
sports and
stand-up, childhood influences
stand-up, in Los Angeles
stand-up, in New York
stand-up, in San Francisco
stand-up, Throckmorton Theatre and Napa Valley
stand-up, with rising fame
stand-up tour of 1982
stand-up tour of 1986
stand-up tour of 2001–2
stand-up tour of 2008–9 Weapons of Self Destruction
suicidal thoughts and
Survivors and
therapy and
Throbbing Python of Love album and
Tonight Show and
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and
Toys and
toy soldiers and
travels to London and meets comedy idols
travels to Poland
TV appearances by
TV appearances by, America 2-Night
TV appearances by, Great American Laugh-Off
TV appearances by, Homicide
TV appearances by, Richard Pryor
TV appearances by, Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre
USO tours and
Vietnam War and
Waiting for Godot and
What Dreams May Come and
will and trust of
World According to Garp and
World’s Greatest Dad and
Williams, Tennessee
Williams, Zachary Pym “Zak” (son)
Williams, Zelda Rae (daughter)
Wilmington, Michael
Wilson, Mara
Windfall Foundation
Winfrey, Oprah
Winkler, Henry
Winters, Jonathan
Wiseman, Joseph
Witherspoon, John
Witness (film)
Wizard of Oz, The (film)
WKRP in Cincinnati (TV show)
Wolfman, The (film)
World According to Garp, The (film)
World News Tonight (TV show)
World Series (2014)
World’s Greatest Dad (film)
World War II
World Wildlife Fund
You in Your Small Corner and I in Mine (Roper)
Zaillian, Steven
Zmuda, Bob
Zukav, Gary
ALSO BY DAVE ITZKOFF
Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies
Cocaine’s Son: A Memoir
Lads: A Memoir of Manhood
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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 has 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. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
PART ONE: COMET
1. Punky and Lord Posh
2. The Escape Artist
3. Legalized Insanity
4. My Favorite Orkan
5. The Robin Williams Show
6. Mork Blows His Cork
7. Bungalow 3
PART TWO: STAR
8. Mr. Happy
9. Tough Love
10. Gooooooood Morning
11. O Captain!
12. Dreamlike Parts, with Phantasmagoric Associations
13. Father Man
14. Hot Flashes
PART THREE: SUPERNOVA
15. The Golden Dude
16. Fade to White
17. Weapons of Self Destruction
18. The Tiger in Winter
19. Gone
20. Everything Will Be Okay
21. The Big Room
Epilogue
Photographs
Robin Williams: Selected Works and Awards
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
Also by Dave Itzkoff
About the Author
Copyright
ROBIN. Copyright © 2018 by Dave Itzkoff. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.henryholt.com
Cover design by Karen Horton Cover photograph © Harry Borden/Contour by Getty Images
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Itzkoff, Dave author.
Title: Robin / Dave Itzkoff.
Description: First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017050678 | ISBN 9781627794244 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Williams, Robin, 1951–2014. | Comedians—United States—Biography. | Actors—United States—Biography.
Classification: LCC PN2287.W473 I89 2018 | DDC 791.4302/8092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017050678
e-ISBN 9781627794251
First Edition: May 2018
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