The Biography of Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams was born on July 21, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois to an upper class family. His father Robert was a white collar worker at the Ford Motor Company. His mother Laurie was a former model. After taking an early retirement, the elder Williams moved his family to California.

While he was attending high school, Williams was voted, "Least Likely To Succeed". After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Claremont Men's College. He was going to study Political Science. However, it looked like the earlier prediction was going to come true when he dropped out of those courses. Instead, Robin Williams enrolled at the Juilliard School in New York City to study Drama. It was at Juilliard that he met and became friends with Christopher Reeve.

After college, Williams returned to his hometown in California. He performed as a stand-up comedian on the club circuit. As he became more well known for his outlandish improvisations,
more opportunities came his way. Robin Williams performed on the "Laugh-In" comedy television show during 1977 and 1978. Then, he appeared on "Happy Days" and played the role of a new character, "Mork From Ork." Mork was an alien who had landed on Richie Cunningham's planet to study the earthlings. His real home was on the planet "Ork."

Robin Williams' "Mork" character, with his trademark greeting, "Na-noo, Na-noo!" was a hit with the "Happy Days" audience. So the producers gave Mork his own television series in 1978.
Pam Dawber co-starred with the comedian as the earthling who Mork ends up staying with. The comedy hit titled, "Mork and Mindy", ran from 1978 to 1982.

In the meantime, Williams started his movie career when he landed the starring role in the movie, "Popeye" in 1980. The movie didn't do well at the box office, so the comedy actor tried again. In 1982, Williams won a role in the movie, "The World According to Garp."

When the "Mork and Mindy"show ended in 1982, the Chicago-born entertainer performed in two shows for the Home Box Office (HBO) television network. They were "An Evening with Robin Williams" in 1982, and "Robin Williams: Live at the Met" in 1986.