Robin

by Dave Itzkoff

  “You held my heart in the palm of your hand”: RWC, box 13, folder 13.

  the first three weekends of its wider release: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=fisherking.htm.

  Marsha gave birth to their second child: Morning Report (column), Los Angeles Times, November 28, 1991.

  who had committed suicide the previous spring: John Taylor, “The Haunted Bird: The Life and Death of Jerzy Kosinski,” New York, July 15, 1991.

  “he just didn’t want to become a vegetable”: Grobel, “Robin Williams: The Playboy Interview.”

  the long-festering lawsuit brought against him by Michelle Tish Carter: Associated Press, “Robin Williams Loses Bid to Dismiss Herpes Lawsuit,” San Bernardino County (CA) Sun, November 9, 1991; and Lisa Russell, Passages (column), People, November 25, 1991.

  “Chaotic, leaden, and only sporadically appealing”: Judy Gerstel, “Spielberg’s ‘Hook’ May Not Be the Hit Hollywood Wants,” Detroit Free Press, December 6, 1991.

  “arrogant spectacle smothers gentle magic”: Kenneth Turan, “‘Hook’: In Search of Enchantment,” Los Angeles Times, December 11, 1991.

  Hook opened in first place at the box office: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=hook.htm.

  “My faithful, compassionate friend and the true Prince of Pans”: RWC, box 13, folder 5.

  when he won a Golden Globe Award: 49th Golden Globe Awards, January 18, 1992. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzTbloaIZQI.

  The film was up for five Academy Awards in all: Associated Press, “‘Bugsy’ Leads List of Oscar Nominees,” Stevens Point (WI) Journal, February 19, 1992.

  “‘You’ve got a good chance this time, Rob’”: Author interview with Terry Gilliam.

  a solemnity and seriousness he did not often exhibit: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, NBC, May 21, 1992.

  “he at first is jumping in a bit, here and there”: Author interview with Marc Shaiman.

  finally settled their long-standing lawsuits: Associated Press, “Williams’ Herpes Lawsuit Settled,” Carbondale (IL) Southern Illinoisan, August 5, 1992.

  Robin, Marsha, and the children went to Rabat: See, e.g., Sam Dreiman, “Robin Williams in Rabat,” http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2014/robin-williams-in-rabat/.

  “a visual correlative to the rapid-fire Williams wit”: Janet Maslin, “Film: Disney Puts Its Magic Touch on ‘Aladdin,’” New York Times, November 11, 1992.

  The film was an instant smash at the box office: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=aladdin.htm.

  a brilliant teaser trailer Levinson shot: Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OejF72Rp1r4.

  “He loved video games”: Author interview with Barry Levinson.

  “a gimmicky, obvious and pious bore”: Peter Travers, “Toys,” Rolling Stone, December 18, 1992.

  he had largely sat out of the promotional rounds for Aladdin: Green, “Wild Child: Playful Role Fits the Boyish Soul.”

  “All of a sudden, they release an advertisement”: Robert W. Welkos, “The Genie Has a Gripe with Disney,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1993.

  “I don’t want to sell stuff. It’s the one thing I don’t do”: Kornbluth, “Robin Williams’s Change of Life.”

  CHAPTER 14. HOT FLASHES

  “A man is losing contact with his kids”: Author interview with Randi Mayem Singer. She shared screenplay credit on Mrs. Doubtfire with Leslie Dixon.

  sold his stake to its junior associates: McFadden, “Jack Rollins Dies at 100; Managed Comedy Greats Like Woody Allen.”

  a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox: Claudia Eller, “Fox Extends Brezner Deal,” Variety, February 10, 1993.

  “remember Robin’s sense of humor, which was rather dirty”: Author interview with Cyndi McHale.

  “It’s him, because he’s the blue wolf”: Simpson, “The Insiders Are Out-Of-Towners.”

  “to pursue things that were of interest to them”: Author interview with Cyndi McHale.

  “She has the patience to discuss a problem for hours and hours”: Ross, Reporting Always, p. 32.

  “Oh, it’s about a puppy”: Simpson, “The Insiders Are Out-Of-Towners.”

  “You’re not just her children, you know”: Anne Fine, Alias Madame Doubtfire (Boston: Jay Street Books, 1988), p. 39.

  It was at Fox that Marsha first learned about the project: Ross, Reporting Always, p. 25.

  “a man would have to play a woman”: Mrs. Doubtfire: Behind-the-Seams Edition, “From Man to Mrs.,” 20th Century Fox, 2008.

  “someone totally unlike myself”: Ibid.

  “we’d love to be Robin’s character in the movie”: Kornbluth, “Robin Williams’s Change of Life.”

  “Daniel Hillard and Miranda got back together”: Mrs. Doubtfire: Behind-the-Seams Edition, “From Man to Mrs.”

  “a Cinderella kind of story”: Ibid.

  “the audience would want Daniel and Miranda to get back together”: Ross, Reporting Always, p. 27.

  “That’s the one fantasy most psychiatrists will tell you is perpetuated”: Kornbluth, “Robin Williams’s Change of Life.”

  forty-one shooting days in the camouflage of Euphegenia Doubtfire: Ibid.

  Robin got two entries on the call sheets: RWC, box 11, folder 11.

  a body suit made of “spandex and beans”: Mrs. Doubtfire: Behind-the-Seams Edition, “From Man to Mrs.”

  The earliest on-camera makeup test of the character, on March 8: Ibid.

  short scenes with the actors playing his children and with Sally Field: Ibid.

  a test drive in a San Francisco sex shop: SiriusXM Town Hall, September 27, 2013. Archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApH30VKTj5U.

  “a voice that sounded like Margaret Thatcher”: SiriusXM Town Hall, September 27, 2013.

  “He’s instilled with the spirit of a sixty-five-year-old woman”: Ross, Reporting Always, p. 28.

  He tried more than a dozen different takes: Mrs. Doubtfire: Behind-the-Seams Edition, “The Improvisation of Mrs. Doubtfire.”

  Robin reworked the script in places: Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, Mrs. Doubtfire, screenplay draft dated March 16, 1993. RWC, box 11, folder 11.

  Mara Wilson, the precocious five-year-old: Mara Wilson, Where Am I Now: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame (New York: Penguin Books, 2016), p. 11.

  a passionate letter on behalf of Lisa Jakub: Lisa Jakub, “Farewell to Robin Williams: A Thank You Note,” lisajakub.net, August 11, 2014.

  The living room of their rental house: Kornbluth, “Robin Williams’s Change of Life.”

  a shrine for the collection of toy soldiers and action figures: Ross, Reporting Always, p. 39.

  the home that Robin and Marsha had purchased: Kornbluth, “Robin Williams’s Change of Life”; and Ross, Reporting Always, p. 37.

  “‘all of your stuff and all of my stuff’”: Kornbluth, “Robin Williams’s Change of Life.”

  “Thank you for not ‘whacking’ me”: RWC, box 13, folder 5.

  “Having grown up here, in San Francisco”: Author interview with Zak Williams.

  “Marsha just did not want me around, period”: Author interview with Valerie Velardi.

  “too free a rein with his improvisations”: Frank Bruni, “Robin Williams Makes ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Shine,” Detroit Free Press, November 24, 1993.

  “it also spends too much time making nice”: Janet Maslin, “Film: Mrs. Doubtfire; A Wig, a Dress and Voila! Dad Becomes the Nanny,” New York Times, November 24, 1993.

  “Tootsie grew out of real wit and insight”: Roger Ebert, “Mrs. Doubtfire,” November 24, 1993. Archived at http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mrs-doubtfire-1993.

  taking in $100 million even before the year was over: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mrsdoubtfire.htm.

  Peter Chernin, the chairman of 20th Century Fox, wrote to thank them: RWC, box 13, folder 6.

  Roth apologized to Robin, pub
licly and unequivocally: Robert W. Welkos, “Abracadabra: Disney, Robin Williams Quit Feud,” Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1994.

  “his little downturned mouth”: Owen Gleiberman, “Being Human,” Entertainment Weekly, May 20, 1994.

  the film grossed only $764,000: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=beinghuman.htm.

  “the machine-gun witticisms and impersonations”: David Simon, “Robin Williams: A Brief Encounter,” The Audacity of Despair, August 12, 2014. Archived at http://davidsimon.com/robin-williams-a-brief-encounter/.

  Reeve was riding Eastern Express during a warm-up: Reeve, Still Me, pp. 4–15; and Lois Romano, “Riding Accident Paralyzes Actor Christopher Reeve,” Washington Post, June 1, 1995.

  “At an especially bleak moment, the door flew open”: Reeve, Still Me, pp. 27 and 33.

  “I’m going to have to put on a rubber glove”: The Oprah Winfrey Show, March 15, 1996.

  who in return called him Brother Rabinowitz: E.g., Christopher Reeve, letter to Robin Williams, June 14, 1996; RWC, box 13, folder 13.

  “right away, he and Marsha were on the plane”: Author interview with Cyndi McHale.

  a fund-raising event for the Creative Coalition: Reeve, Still Me, pp. 113–18.

  “Everybody got a great tan from your sunshine”: RWC, box 13, folder 13.

  “where shall we write it in blood?’”: Jonathan Alter, “Robin Williams Uncaged,” USA Weekend, March 1–3, 1996.

  the film’s $65 million budget: Richard Natale, “Who Is Box-Office Gold,” Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1995; and Newsmakers (column), Palm Beach Post, June 26, 1995.

  “The world frightens me a lot”: Karen Hershenson, “‘Jumanji’ Role Stretches Robin Williams in New Directions,” Knight-Ridder, December 16, 1995.

  Jumanji proved to be too scary for Cody: Names & Faces (column), Orlando Sentinel, December 17, 1995.

  “the triumph of literalism over interference”: Stephen Hunter, “Flat Film Takes All the Fun Out of ‘Jumanji,’” Baltimore Sun, December 15, 1995.

  Jumanji opened at number one: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jumanji.htm.

  CHAPTER 15. THE GOLDEN DUDE

  an actor whose name is given only as Mel: Deconstructing Harry, directed by Woody Allen, 1997.

  Allen wrote to Robin several months earlier: RWC, box 2, folder 6.

  “Reconciling a family, a country, right and left”: Alter, “Robin Williams Uncaged.”

  President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration: RWC, box 12, folder 25; and Bernard Weinraub, “This Inaugural Thing Just Irks Hollywood,” New York Times, January 10, 1993.

  “You were in the tippiest top form”: RWC, box 12, folder 26.

  a dutiful congratulatory letter from the White House: RWC, box 13, folder 13.

  heavy hitters like Al Gore or John Kerry: RWC, box 13, folder 6.

  “I am working like a field hand”: Ibid.

  the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence: Ryan Murphy, “Robin Williams Reassures ‘Castro’ Filmmakers,” Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1992.

  “it has the same values as your neighborhood”: Alter, “Robin Williams Uncaged.”

  “It was hard for me to watch him go off”: Bruce Bibby, “Birds of a Feather,” Premiere, April 1996.

  “the relatively still center”: Alter, “Robin Williams Uncaged.”

  “When people see me that way, they think something’s wrong”: Ibid.

  “You’d just be talking to him over the breakfast table”: Author interview with Cyndi McHale.

  “multiple Robins”: Author interview with Peter Asher.

  “When he’d make fun of you, it was always really nice”: Author interview with Wendy Asher.

  He continued to see a therapist: Alter, “Robin Williams Uncaged.”

  “He was a great appreciator of people’s work”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.

  he expected to play the villainous Riddler: “Williams Probable Riddler for Long-Awaited ‘Batman III,’” Orlando Sentinel, November 19, 1993.

  and then passing on the role: Judy Brennan, “Cast Announcement for ‘Batman Forever,’” Entertainment Weekly, June 3, 1994.

  a massive hit for Carrey: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=dumbanddumber.htm.

  “He chose the thing to do and he’s the master of it”: Bibby, “Birds of a Feather.”

  he “got completely freaked out about Jim Carrey”: Author interview with Cheri Minns.

  “the white-hot center of a picture”: Hal Hinson, “‘The Birdcage’: A Wingding of a Show,” Washington Post, March 8, 1996.

  it went “beyond the stereotypes to see the characters’ depth and humanity”: GLAAD, “GLAAD Applauds ‘The Birdcage,’” press release, March 5, 1996. Archived at http://www.qrd.org/qrd/orgs/GLAAD/general.information/1996/applauds.birdcage-03.05.96.

  “homosexuality continues to bring out the worst”: Bruce Bawer, “Film View: Why Can’t Hollywood Get Gay Life Right?” New York Times, March 10, 1996.

  “I used to do a choreographer character on Comic Relief”: Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith, Robin Responds to Gay Criticism (column), Detroit Free Press, February 13, 1996.

  grossing nearly $125 million: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=birdcage.htm.

  “Someone deserves a timeout”: Susan Wloszczyna, “Sappy ‘Jack’ Goes Splat!” USA Today, August 9, 1996.

  a lavish, four-hour film adaptation: Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh, 1996.

  “‘Dad, have I been bad?’”: John Clark, “Can One Movie Contain These Two?” Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1997.

  “‘one for them, one for me’”: Author interview with Steven Haft.

  Father Damien, the Catholic priest: Wayne Harada, “Robin Williams to Star in Film on Father Damien,” Honolulu Advertiser, July 28, 1996.

  “Anything indie, basically, was something that she recommended he do”: Author interview with Lisa Birnbach.

  “Every bad film he did, she told him not to do”: Author interview with Wendy Asher.

  “Billy would bring in some food”: Author interview with Cheri Minns.

  “It was not a great experience, because the script was never really ready”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.

  awkwardly shoehorned into an episode of Friends: Friends, “The One with the Ultimate Fighting Championship,” May 8, 1997.

  “It’s so stupid.… But it really works”: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, May 6, 1997.

  “a movie of implacable unfunniness”: Joe Morgenstern, “Sci-Fi Stunts; Dueling Dads,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1997.

  grossing only about $29 million: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/search/?q=fathers%27%20day.

  their upbringings in Cambridge, Massachusetts: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, “Reflecting on a Journey,” Lionsgate, 2012; Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, audio commentary; and Jamie Diamond, “When Visiting the Mainstream Is an Experiment,” New York Times, November 9, 1997.

  Robin signed on to Good Will Hunting that March: Movie Buzz (column), Sioux Falls (SD) Argus-Leader, March 12, 1997.

  “layered and very moving, but in a very simple way”: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, “Reflecting on a Journey.”

  a few weeks of filming in Boston and Toronto: RWC, box 11, folder 1; and Marilyn Beck, Midler Launches Weekly TV Sitcom (column), Saint Cloud (MN) Times, June 15, 1997.

  about $3 million in salary: James Bates, “Big Profits Raise Profile of the ‘Small Movie,’” Los Angeles Times, March 23, 1998; and “Cashing In on Oscar,” Palm Beach Post, March 25, 1998.

  “half-way between the a of ‘FAT’ and the ah of ‘FATHER’”: RWC, box 11, folder 1.

  “He would go, ‘Yeah, yeah, boss. Was that not good?’”: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, audio commentary.

  his book learning is no substitute for Maguire’s life experience: Good Will Hunting, directed by Gus Van Sant, 1997
.

  “I used to have to wake up and light a match”: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, audio commentary.

  “Robin got really upset for this moment”: Ibid.

  “We must have done twenty takes”: Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition, “Reflecting on a Journey.”

  “overproduced, mechanical and resoundingly unfunny”: Edward Guthmann, “The Goo, the Bad and the Ugly,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 26, 1997.

  Robin “isn’t at his best when he tries to be sincere”: Hillel Italie, “‘Good Will Hunting’ Aims for Hipness, Settles for Convention,” Associated Press, December 5, 1997.

  Affleck and Damon “lack the craft” to give Maguire “speeches that aren’t so fake-sensitive”: Kenneth Turan, “An Uncertain Match Made in Hollywood,” Los Angeles Times, December 5, 1997.

  “a smart and touching screenplay”: Janet Maslin, “Logarithms and Biorhythms Test a Young Janitor,” New York Times, December 5, 1997.

  “the finest performance” of Robin’s career: Joe Morgenstern, “Hunting (and Finding) Goodwill,” Wall Street Journal, December 5, 1997.

  “I don’t see him in that part—I just see that guy, Maguire”: Author interview with Billy Crystal.

  more than $50 million by the end of January: Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=goodwillhunting.htm.

  likely to earn as much as $15 million to $20 million: Bates, “Big Profits Raise Profile of the ‘Small Movie’”; and “Cashing In on Oscar.”

  nominated for a Golden Globe: Associated Press, “‘Titanic’ Sails Away with 8 Golden Globe Nominations,” Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph, December 19, 1997.

  Christine Lahti, a winner for the TV series Chicago Hope: Patricia Lowry, “Gushing at the Globes,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 20, 1998.

  nominated for nine Academy Awards: John Horn, “‘Titanic’ Gets 14 Oscar Nominations, Tying Record,” Associated Press, February 10, 1998.

  Robin won the Screen Actors Guild Award: Francesca Chapman, Chastity Bono: Ellen’s on Gay Overload (column), Philadelphia Daily News, March 10, 1998.

  a neck-and-neck competition between Reynolds and him: Hap Erstein, “Are the Odds on Burt?” Palm Beach Post, March 19, 1998.