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President Obama, Steve Martin, and the Entire Internet Pay Tribute to the Unstoppable Force of Joy and Love That Was Robin Williams

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | August 12, 2014 |

By Vivian Kane | Miscellaneous | August 12, 2014 |



Following the tragic news of Robin Williams’ death yesterday, Williams’ wife, Susan Schneider, said she and their family hoped that “the focus will not be on Robin’s death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions.” And thankfully, that seems to be what is happening. A number of Williams’ colleagues have come out with beautiful statements of remembrance.

Steven Spielberg said, “Robin was a lightning storm of comic genius and our laughter was the thunder that sustained him.”

Chris Columbus:

To watch Robin work, was a magical and special privilege. His performances were unlike anything any of us had ever seen, they came from some spiritual and otherworldly place. He truly was one of the few people who deserved the title of ‘genius.’ … The world was a better place with Robin in it. And his beautiful legacy will live on forever.

Minnie Driver:
I never met anyone who loved making people laugh more than Robin. I’d come to watch he and Matt film their beautiful scene on the park bench in Goodwill Hunting, and when they broke for lunch we sat around on the grass eating sandwiches; what began as a riff on something or other to make us and the crew laugh suddenly extended to office workers out on their lunchbreak, enjoying the sunshine, and pretty soon he stood up and his big beautiful voice, full of laughter, reached out to the people who were now hurrying down from the street and across the park to catch his impromptu standup. There must have been 200 hundred people listening and laughing by the time lunch was over. I just remember how broadly he smiled , patted me on the shoulder and said, “There, now that was GOOD” I loved him, and I will miss him greatly. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

Paul F. Tompkins wrote a beautiful piece for Fusion that you should definitely read in its entirety.

Robin Williams will live on in shadows and light and sound, at least. He will continue to comfort weird little kids (and odd adults, for that matter) with his performances, those who know his work today and those who have yet to be born, who may experience him ten, fifty, a hundred years from now. But this is cold comfort indeed.

There will be much celebration, in the coming weeks and months, of Robin Williams’ life and career. But perhaps the best tribute to him would be if we all reached out to the troubled people in our lives and let them know that we are here for them. Because Robin Williams was there for us.


And, of course, Twitter immediately filled with tributes and memories, both personal and professional. Although it seems that with this particular man, there was no separation of the two.








Even Patton Oswalt came out of hibernation.


And that, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg of love and loss for this incredible man.