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77-537: Nerdist Industries was formed in February 2012 after Hardwick and Peter Levin ( GeekChicDaily ) merged their separate entertainment projects into Nerdist Industries, after which GeekChicDaily was rebranded Nerdist News. The newly formed company began to produce additional podcasts under the Nerdist Industries banner as well as producing content and webshows for its Nerdist YouTube channel. In July 2012, Nerdist Industries

154-630: A Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of his 1979 live show at the Copacabana in New York City, Reality   ... What a Concept . Williams starred as the lead character in The World According to Garp (1982), which he noted "may have lacked a certain madness onscreen, but it had a great core". Critic Roger Ebert wrote of his performance, "Although Robin Williams plays Garp as

231-612: A 10K run in Central Park in 1975. His favorite books were the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov , and his favorite book as a child was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , which he later shared with his children. Williams was an enthusiast of both pen-and-paper role-playing games and video games. His daughter Zelda was named after the title character from The Legend of Zelda ,

308-540: A devoted cycling enthusiast, having taken up the sport partly as a substitute for drugs. Eventually, he accumulated a large bicycle collection and became a fan of professional road cycling , often traveling to racing events such as the Tour de France . In 2016, Williams' children donated 87 of his bicycles in support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation . Williams

385-468: A doctor modeled after Oliver Sacks , who wrote the book on which the film is based. Sacks later said the way the actor's mind worked was a "form of genius". In 1991, Williams played an adult Peter Pan in the film Hook , although he had said that he would have to lose 25 pounds for the role. Terry Gilliam , who directed Williams in two of his films, The Fisher King (1991) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), said in 1992 that Williams had

462-485: A drug overdose, which happened the morning after the two had partied together, along with the birth of his son Zak, prompted him to quit drugs and alcohol: "Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped, too." Williams turned to exercise and cycling to help alleviate his depression shortly after Belushi's death; according to bicycle shop owner Tony Tom, Williams said, "cycling saved my life". In 2003, Williams started drinking again while working on

539-468: A family favorite video game series, and Williams sometimes performed at consumer entertainment trade shows. Williams was a big fan of anime and collecting figures. His daughter described him as a "figurine hoarder"; one of his figures was the character Deunan Knute from the anime film Appleseed , which Williams was a fan of. He also liked the film Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence . Williams also became

616-511: A happy birthday. In 1986, Williams teamed up with Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal to establish Comic Relief USA . This annual HBO television benefit devoted to the homeless raised $ 80   million as of 2014. Bob Zmuda , creator of Comic Relief, explains that Williams felt blessed because he came from a wealthy home, but wanted to do something to help those less fortunate. Williams made benefit appearances to support literacy and women's rights, along with appearing at benefits for veterans. He

693-476: A high, nasal voice, and he made the most of the script. The cast and crew, as well as TV network executives, were deeply impressed with Williams's performance. As such, the executives moved quickly to get the performer on contract just four days later before competitors could make their own offers. Mork's appearance proved so popular with viewers that it led to the spin-off television sitcom Mork & Mindy , which co-starred Pam Dawber , and ran from 1978 to 1982;

770-470: A mile a minute. I'd never seen so much energy contained in one person. He was like an untied balloon that had been inflated and immediately released. I watched in awe as he virtually caromed off the walls of the classrooms and hallways. To say that he was 'on' would be a major understatement." Williams and Reeve had a class in dialects taught by Edith Skinner , whom Reeve said was one of the world's leading voice and speech teachers. According to Reeve, Skinner

847-427: A murderer on the run from a sleep-deprived Los Angeles police detective (played by Al Pacino ) in rural Alaska. That same year, in the psychological thriller One Hour Photo , Williams portrayed an emotionally disturbed photo development technician who becomes obsessed with a family for whom he has developed pictures for a long time. In the 2004 science fiction psychological thriller The Final Cut , Williams played

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924-605: A nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor . The film is set in 1965 during the Vietnam War , with Williams playing the role of Adrian Cronauer , a radio shock jock who keeps troops entertained with comedy and sarcasm. Williams was allowed to play the role without a script, improvising most of his lines. Over the microphone, Williams created voice impressions of various people, including Walter Cronkite , Gomer Pyle , Elvis Presley , Mr. Ed and Richard Nixon . "We just let

1001-691: A paternal half-brother, Robert (also known as Todd), and a maternal half-brother, McLaurin. While his mother was a practitioner of Christian Science , Williams was raised in his father's Episcopal faith. During a television interview on Inside the Actors Studio in 2001, Williams credited his mother as an important early influence on his humor, and he tried to make her laugh to gain attention. Williams attended public elementary school in Lake Forest at Gorton Elementary School and middle school at Deer Path Junior High School . Williams described himself as

1078-611: A professional who specializes in editing the memories of unsavory people into uncritical memorials that are played at funerals. His many television appearances included an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? , and Williams starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . He headlined his own one-man show , Robin Williams: Live on Broadway , which played at the Broadway Theatre in July 2002. Williams's stand-up work

1155-440: A quiet child who did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high school drama department. His friends recall him as very funny. In late 1963, when Williams was 12, his father was transferred to Detroit. The family lived in a 40-room farmhouse on 20 acres (8 ha) in suburban Bloomfield Hills , Michigan, where Williams was a student at the private Detroit Country Day School . He excelled in school, where he

1232-634: A regional version of the newsletter, in April 2011. GeekChicNYC was later added in August 2011. The offices are based out of Santa Monica, California. Comedian Chris Hardwick 's Nerdist Industries , entered into an equity partnership with GeekChicDaily in June 2011. Nerdist Industries operates a podcast network, including the flagship Nerdist Podcast , Nerdist Blog and NerdMelt theater at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles. On

1309-461: A relatively plausible, sometimes ordinary person, the movie never seems bothered by the jarring contrast between his cheerful pluckiness and the anarchy around him." Williams continued with other smaller roles in less successful films, such as The Survivors (1983) and Club Paradise (1986), although he said these roles did not help advance his film career. In 1986, Williams co-hosted the 58th Academy Awards . The following year, he appeared in

1386-531: A six-year hiatus, in August 2008, Williams announced a new 26-city tour, Weapons of Self-Destruction . The tour began at the end of September 2009, and concluded in New York on December 3, and was the subject of an HBO Special on December 8, 2009. Years after the films, Janet Hirshenson revealed in an interview that Williams had expressed interest in portraying Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series, but

1463-465: A sketch comedy special Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin (1987), acting alongside Carol Burnett , Carl Reiner and Whoopi Goldberg . Williams was also a regular guest on various talk shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman , on which he appeared 50 times. Williams's first major break came from his starring role in director Barry Levinson 's Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), which earned Williams

1540-698: A troubled homeless man in The Fisher King , respectively. Among the actors who helped Williams during his acting career, he credited Robert De Niro, from whom Williams learned the power of silence and economy of dialogue when acting. From Dustin Hoffman , with whom Williams co-starred in Hook , he learned to take on totally different character types, and to transform his characters by extreme preparation. Mike Medavoy , producer of Hook , told its director, Steven Spielberg , that he intentionally teamed up Hoffman and Williams for

1617-540: A vampire on a day pass. No. In mid-2014, Williams was admitted to the Hazelden Foundation Addiction Treatment Center in Center City, Minnesota , for treatment for alcoholism. In March 2009, Williams was hospitalized due to heart problems. He postponed his one-man tour for surgery to replace his aortic valve , repair his mitral valve and correct his irregular heartbeat . The surgery

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1694-1036: A week to bring the latest news in nerdy pop culture. The Nerdist Podcast , the flagship podcast of Nerdist Industries, is a weekly interview show launched February 8, 2010 "about what it really means to be a nerd" hosted by Web Soup and Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick , who is usually accompanied by Jonah Ray and Matt Mira . The audio podcasts are typically an hour in length and include conversations with notable comedians or entertainers, sometimes at their own home. Guests are varied, though typically relate to either stand-up comedy, nerd culture, or both, and have included CM Punk , Rob Zombie , Stan Lee , Ozzy Osbourne , Jeri Ryan , Drew Carey and several cast and crew of Community , Doctor Who , and Star Trek: The Next Generation . In late 2017, Hardwick's future with Nerdist Industries and parent company Legendary Entertainment became unclear. Although still technically CEO of Nerdist Industries, he considered his role to have become advisory, and no longer felt connected with

1771-601: Is said to have "[captured] his different sides: the funnyman mugging for the camera, and a sweet, more thoughtful pose that appears on a small TV he holds in his hands", according to Mary Forgione of the Los Angeles Times . This photo was installed in the National Portrait Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution shortly after Williams died to allow visitors to pay their respects. He also appeared on

1848-552: Is the Nerdist branded pop culture newsletter, founded and originally operated by former Nerdist Industries CEO Peter Levin. The cross-platform publisher currently has two newsletter publications, Nerdist News and TOKYOPOP . GeekChicDaily became Nerdist News after it merged with Nerdist to form Nerdist Industries in February 2012. In late 2013 Nerdist News transitioned to a web series on YouTube channel "Nerdist", hosted by previous IGN Daily Fix presenter Jessica Chobot that airs five days

1925-570: The Happy Feet film franchise (2006–2011), and an uncredited vocal performance in Everyone's Hero (2006). He also voiced the holographic character Dr. Know in the live-action film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). Williams was the voice of The Timekeeper , a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to

2002-953: The Night at the Museum trilogy (2006–2014). Williams lent his voice to the animated films Aladdin (1992), Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006) and its 2011 sequel . During his career, Williams suffered substance abuse issues and instances of severe depression. He was found dead at his home in Paradise Cay, California , in August 2014, at age 63. His death was ruled a suicide . According to his widow, Williams had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease , and had been experiencing depression, anxiety and increasing paranoia. His autopsy found "diffuse Lewy body disease ", and Lewy body dementia professionals said that his symptoms were consistent with dementia with Lewy bodies . Robin McLaurin Williams

2079-500: The BBC -inspired music video of international celebrities doing a cover of The Rolling Stones single " It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It) " for the charity Children's Promise. In response to the 2010 Canterbury earthquake , Williams donated all proceeds of his Weapons of Self Destruction Christchurch performance to help rebuild the New Zealand city. Half the proceeds were donated to

2156-605: The Drama League Award for Outstanding Distinguished Performer. In May 2013, CBS started a new series, The Crazy Ones , starring Williams, which was canceled after one season. The Angriest Man in Brooklyn was his last movie to be released during his lifetime. In the movie, Williams played Henry Altmann, an angry, bitter man who tries to change his life after being told he has a terminal illness . Four films starring Williams were released after his death in 2014: Night at

2233-703: The Holy City Zoo , a comedy club in San Francisco, where Williams worked his way up from tending bar. In the 1960s, San Francisco was a center for a rock music renaissance, hippies , drugs , and a sexual revolution , and in the late 1970s, Williams helped lead its "comedy renaissance", wrote critic Gerald Nachman . Williams said that he found out about "drugs and happiness" during that period, adding that he saw "the best brains of my time turned to mud." Williams moved to Los Angeles and continued performing stand-up at clubs, including The Comedy Store . There, in 1977, he

2310-609: The Red Cross and half to the mayoral building fund. Williams performed with the USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. For several years, Williams supported St. Jude Children's Research Hospital . During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine . He was a casual friend of John Belushi , and the Saturday Night Live comic's death in 1982 from

2387-603: The Roxy to help keep his improvisational skills sharp. In England, Williams performed at The Fighting Cocks . David Letterman , who knew Williams for nearly 40 years, recalls seeing him first perform as a new comedian at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, where Letterman and other comedians had already been doing stand-up. "He came in like a hurricane", said Letterman, who said he thought to himself, "Holy crap, there goes my chance in show business". The first film role credited to Williams

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2464-721: The Hudson (1984), What Dreams May Come (1998) and Bicentennial Man (1999). During the early 2000s, Williams demonstrated a new rank of his versatility by playing darker roles than he had in the previous decades. Williams appeared with fellow comedian, Billy Crystal , in an unscripted cameo at the beginning of a 1997 episode of the third season of Friends . Williams's performances garnered various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Good Will Hunting ; as well as two previous Academy Award nominations, for Dead Poets Society , and as

2541-567: The Iguana . Reeve wrote, "He simply was the old man. I was astonished by his work and very grateful that fate had thrown us together." The two remained close friends until Reeve's death in 2004. Their friendship was like "brothers from another mother", according to Williams's son Zak. During the summers of 1974, 1975, and 1976, Williams worked as a busboy at The Trident in Sausalito, California . He left Juilliard during his junior year in 1976 at

2618-527: The Museum: Secret of the Tomb , A Merry Friggin' Christmas , Boulevard , and Absolutely Anything . Williams married actress Valerie Velardi in 1978, following a live-in relationship with comedian Elayne Boosler . Velardi and Williams met in 1976 while he was working as a bartender at a San Francisco tavern. Their son, Zachary Pym, was born in 1983. Velardi and Williams were divorced in 1988. While it

2695-562: The Nerdist Blog, Hardwick stated that "Peter Levin, founder of GeekChicDaily, will take over the business-y parts of the growing Nerdist tentacles." In February 2012, GeekChicDaily fully merged with Nerdist Industries and became Nerdist News. Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and

2772-470: The ability to "go from manic to mad to tender and vulnerable   ... [Williams had] the most unique mind on the planet. There's nobody like him out there." While Williams voiced characters in several animated films, his voice role as the Genie in the animated musical Aladdin (1992) was written for Williams. The film's directors said that they had taken a risk by writing the role. At first, Williams refused

2849-436: The cameras roll," said producer Mark Johnson, and Williams "managed to create something new for every single take". Williams appeared opposite Steve Martin at Lincoln Center in an off-Broadway production of Waiting for Godot in 1988. Many of his subsequent roles were in comedies tinged with pathos , such as Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Patch Adams (1998). Looking over most of Williams's filmography, one writer

2926-516: The cast of The Richard Pryor Show on NBC , Williams was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in a 1978 episode of the TV series Happy Days titled " My Favorite Orkan ". Sought after as a last-minute cast replacement for a departing actor, Williams impressed the producer with his quirky sense of humor when he sat on his head when asked to take a seat for the audition. As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and physical comedy, speaking in

3003-483: The company. As his contract with Legendary approached its end with no discussion about renewing, Hardwick – who retains full rights to the podcast, including its catalog of back episodes – decided to move the podcast. Since he didn't have rights to use the Nerdist name on the podcast without heavy fees, and as part of a new venture, in February 2018 it was renamed to ID10T with Chris Hardwick . During 2011, Nerdist began releasing various other podcasts. As of January 2016

3080-459: The cover of the August 23, 1979, issue of Rolling Stone , photographed by Richard Avedon . With his success on Mork & Mindy , Williams began to reach a wider audience with his stand-up comedy, starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, including three HBO comedy specials: Off The Wall (1978), An Evening with Robin Williams (1983), and A Night at the Met (1986). Williams won

3157-496: The critically acclaimed dramas The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), Insomnia (2002), One Hour Photo (2002) and World's Greatest Dad (2009). He also starred in Toys (1992), The Birdcage (1996) and Patch Adams (1998), as well as family films, such as Hook (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Jack (1996), Flubber (1997), RV (2006) and

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3234-546: The depth of the young actor's talent became evident when Williams was cast in the musical Oliver! as Fagin . He often improvised during his time in the drama program, leaving cast members in hysterics. Dunn called his wife after one late rehearsal to tell her Williams "was going to be something special". In 1973, Williams attained a full scholarship to the Juilliard School ( Group 6 , 1973–1976) in New York City . He

3311-589: The direct-to-video sequel, The Return of Jafar (1994); the Genie was instead voiced by Dan Castellaneta . When Jeffrey Katzenberg was replaced by Joe Roth as Walt Disney Studios chairman, Roth organized a public apology to Williams. He would, in turn, reprise the role in the second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996). During this time, Williams lent his voice to FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992). Other dramatic performances by Williams include Moscow on

3388-414: The disease as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain", Schneider said that "however you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life", referring to his previous diagnosis of Parkinson's. She noted "how we as a culture don't have the vocabulary to discuss brain disease in the way we do about depression. Depression is a symptom of LBD and it's not about psychology – it's rooted in neurology. His brain

3465-599: The film The Big White (2005) in Alaska. In 2006, he checked in to a substance-abuse rehabilitation center in Newberg, Oregon , saying that he was an alcoholic. Years afterward, Williams acknowledged his failure to maintain sobriety , but said that he never returned to using cocaine, declaring in a 2010 interview: No. Cocaine—paranoid and impotent, what fun. There was no bit of me thinking, ooh, let's go back to that. Useless conversations until midnight, waking up at dawn feeling like

3542-538: The film because he knew they wanted to work together, and that Williams welcomed the opportunity of working with Spielberg. Having Woody Allen , who directed him and Billy Crystal in Deconstructing Harry (1997), helped Williams. Allen knew that Crystal and Williams had often worked together on stage. Williams was the host of a talk show for Audible that aired in April 2000 and was only available on Audible's website. In Insomnia (2002), Williams portrayed

3619-443: The film was the highest-grossing of 1992; it won numerous awards, including a Special Golden Globe Award for Vocal Work in a Motion Picture for Williams. His performance paved the way for other animated films to incorporate actors with more star power. Williams was named a Disney Legend in 2009. Due to Disney breaking an agreement with Williams regarding the use of the Genie in the advertising for Aladdin , he refused to sign for

3696-639: The full range includes: The Nerdist Showroom , also known as NerdMelt or the NerdMelt Showroom , was a performance space operated in collaboration with, and located inside, Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles, California . The showroom opened in April 2011 and ran through March 2018. It featured the Nerdist logo near the entrance, plush chairs, dark walls, and a far off green room. Performances included live stand-up comedy, storytelling shows, sketch comedy, movie screenings, writer's panels and podcast recordings. It

3773-578: The future. In 2010, Williams appeared in a sketch with Robert De Niro on Saturday Night Live , and in 2012, he guest-starred as himself in two FX series, Louie and Wilfred . Williams made his Broadway acting debut in Rajiv Joseph 's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo , which opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre March 31, 2011. For his performance, Williams was nominated for

3850-558: The journal Neurology two years after his death, Schneider revealed that the pathology of Lewy body disease in Williams was described by several doctors as among the worst pathologies they had seen. She described the early symptoms of his disease as beginning in October 2013. Williams's initial condition included a sudden and prolonged spike in fear , anxiety , stress and insomnia , which worsened in severity and included memory loss , paranoia and delusions . According to Schneider, "Robin

3927-604: The mid-1970s, and released several comedy albums including Reality ... What a Concept in 1980. He rose to fame playing the alien Mork in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy (1978–1982). Williams received his first leading film role in Popeye (1980). Williams won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Good Will Hunting (1997). His other Oscar-nominated roles were for Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989) and The Fisher King (1991). Williams starred in

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4004-445: The original Nerdist podcast and archives remaining under Hardwick's control under the new title ID10T with Chris Hardwick . His presence with the company, including as founder, was clarified and removed from the website on June 15, 2018, after abuse allegations were made against him by a former girlfriend. On August 10, 2018, his name was then returned to Nerdist's website. Nerdist News (founded February 2012; formerly GeekChicDaily )

4081-879: The role because it was a Disney movie and he did not want the studio profiting by selling merchandise based on the movie. Williams accepted the role with certain conditions: "I'm doing it basically because I want to be part of this animation tradition. I want something for my children. One deal is, I just don't want to sell anything—as in Burger King, as in toys, as in stuff." Williams improvised much of his dialogue, recording approximately 30 hours of tape, and impersonated dozens of celebrities, including Ed Sullivan , Jack Nicholson , Robert De Niro , Groucho Marx , Rodney Dangerfield , William F. Buckley Jr. , Peter Lorre , Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arsenio Hall . Williams's role in Aladdin became one of his most recognized and best-loved, and

4158-493: The show was very popular because Williams became "a man and a child, buoyant, rubber-faced, an endless gusher of ideas", according to critic James Poniewozik . Mork became popular, featured on posters, coloring books, lunch-boxes, and other merchandise. Mork & Mindy was such a success in its first season that Williams appeared on the March 12, 1979, cover of Time magazine. The cover photo, taken by Michael Dressler in 1979,

4235-551: The show was written to accommodate his extreme improvisations in dialogue and behavior. Although he portrayed the same character as in Happy Days , the series was set in the present in Boulder, Colorado , instead of the late 1950s in Milwaukee . Mork & Mindy at its peak had a weekly audience of sixty million and was credited with turning Williams into a "superstar". Among young people,

4312-494: The suggestion of Houseman, who said there was nothing more that Juilliard could teach Williams. Gerald Freedman , another of his teachers at Juilliard, said Williams was a "genius" and that the school's conservative and classical style of training did not suit him; no one was surprised that Williams left. Williams began performing stand-up comedy in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1976. He gave his first performance at

4389-563: The wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedies alike, Williams is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time. He received numerous accolades including an Academy Award , two Primetime Emmy Awards , six Golden Globe Awards , five Grammy Awards , and two Screen Actors Guild Awards . Williams was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005. Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during

4466-571: Was "struck by the breadth" and radical diversity of most of the roles Williams portrayed. In 1989, he played a private-school English teacher in Dead Poets Society , which included a final, emotional scene that some critics said "inspired a generation" and became a part of pop culture. Similarly, Williams's performance as a therapist in Good Will Hunting (1997) deeply affected even some real therapists. In Awakenings (1990), he plays

4543-551: Was a consistent thread throughout his career, as seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD), Robin Williams: Live on Broadway (2002). In 2004, Williams was voted 13th on Comedy Central 's list of "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time." Two years later, he was the Surprise Guest at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards , and appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that aired January 30. After

4620-566: Was a multi-platform publisher of pop culture based newsletters, founded by Peter Levin and Gareb Shamus and operated by CEO Peter Levin. The now-defunct publisher had multiple newsletter publications including GeekChicDaily, GeekChic Los Angeles and GeekChicNYC. The targets for the newsletters were socially active consumers of genre fare. Rebranded as Nerdist News post merger with Nerdist Industries. CEO Peter Levin and Gareb Shamus launched GeekChicDaily with Peter Guber and other advisors in October, 2009. The company launched GeekChic Los Angeles,

4697-561: Was a regular on the USO circuit, where Williams traveled to 13 countries and performed to approximately 90,000 troops. After his death, the USO thanked Williams "for all he did for the men and women of our armed forces". Williams and his second wife Marsha founded a philanthropic organization called the Windfall Foundation to raise money for many charities. In December 1999, he sang in French on

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4774-478: Was a small part in the 1977 low-budget comedy Can I Do It... 'Til I Need Glasses? . However, his first starring performance was as the title character in Popeye (1980), in which Williams showcased the acting skills previously demonstrated in his television work. Accordingly, the film's commercial disappointment was not blamed on his performance. Mork and Mindy After the Laugh-In revival, and appearing in

4851-426: Was acquired by Legendary Entertainment. It was announced that Nerdist Industries would operate independently with Hardwick and Levin as its co-presidents. Peter Levin left Nerdist Industries in 2013 and now heads Lionsgate's Interactive Ventures and Games. Hardwick then took over, and served as chief executive officer until 2015, when he relinquished operational control until the expiration of his contract in 2017, with

4928-582: Was also the home of the Comedy Central television series The Meltdown with Jonah & Kumail . Past performers include Louis C.K. , Jim Gaffigan , Dan Harmon , Kumail Nanjiani , Jonah Ray , and Robin Williams . The Showroom closed with Meltdown on March 31, 2018, after the building's owners sold it to a developer planning to construct a new residential development along two blocks. Content featured on Nerdist's YouTube channel. includes: GeekChicDaily GeekChicDaily (founded in October, 2009)

5005-499: Was bewildered by Williams and his ability to instantly perform in many different accents. Their primary acting teacher was Michael Kahn , who was "equally baffled by this human dynamo". Williams already had a reputation for being funny, but Kahn criticized his antics as simple stand-up comedy. In a later production, Williams silenced his critics with his well-received performance as an old man in Tennessee Williams 's Night of

5082-503: Was born at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago , Illinois , on July 21, 1951. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (1906–1987), was a senior executive in Ford 's Lincoln-Mercury Division . His mother, Laurie McLaurin (1922–2001), was a former model from Jackson, Mississippi , whose great-grandfather was Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin . Williams had two older half-brothers:

5159-562: Was completed March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic . His publicist, Mara Buxbaum, commented that Williams had severe depression before his death. His wife, Susan Schneider, said that in the period before his death, Williams had been sober but was diagnosed with early-stage Parkinson's disease , which was information that he was "not yet ready to share publicly". An autopsy revealed that Williams had diffuse Lewy bodies (which had been misdiagnosed as Parkinson's), and this may have contributed to his depression. In an essay published in

5236-801: Was falling apart." Medical experts struggled to determine a cause, and eventually diagnosed him with Parkinson's disease. The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) clarified the distinction between the term used in the autopsy report, "diffuse Lewy body dementia", which is more commonly called "diffuse Lewy body disease", and refers to the underlying disease process—and the umbrella term, " Lewy body dementia "—which encompasses both Parkinson's disease dementia (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). According to LBDA spokesperson Dennis Dickson, "The report confirms he experienced depression, anxiety, and paranoia, which may occur in either Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies.   ... In early PD, Lewy bodies are generally limited in distribution, but in DLB,

5313-453: Was finalized in 2010. In 2011, Williams married graphic designer Susan Schneider, and they remained married until his death. They lived at their house in Sea Cliff, San Francisco , California. Williams said, "My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings." In New York City, Williams was part of the West Side YMCA runners club and showed promising results with 34:21 minutes at

5390-640: Was losing his mind and he was aware of it   ... He kept saying, 'I just want to reboot my brain. ' " Williams was found dead at age 63 in his home in Paradise Cay, California , on August 11, 2014. The final autopsy report, released that November, concluded that Williams's death was a suicide resulting from " asphyxia due to hanging". Neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, and prescription drugs present in his body were at therapeutic levels. The report also noted that Williams had depression and anxiety. An examination of his brain tissue suggested that Williams had "diffuse Lewy body dementia". Describing

5467-409: Was on the school's wrestling team and was elected class president. As both his parents worked, Williams was partially raised by the family's maid, who was his main companion. When Williams was 16, his father took early retirement and the family moved to Tiburon, California . Following their move, Williams attended Redwood High School in nearby Larkspur . At the time of his graduation in 1969, he

5544-568: Was one of 20 students accepted into the freshman class, and Williams and Christopher Reeve were the only two accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year. William Hurt and Mandy Patinkin were also classmates. According to biographer Jean Dorsinville, both Franklyn Seales and Williams were roommates at Juilliard. Reeve remembered his first impression of Williams when they were new students at Juilliard: "He wore tie-dyed shirts with tracksuit bottoms and talked

5621-474: Was raised and sometimes identified himself as an Episcopalian . In a comedy routine, Williams described his denomination as: "I have that idea of Chicago Protestant, Episcopal—Catholic light: half the religion, half the guilt." He also described himself as an "honorary Jew", and on Israel 's 60th Independence Day in 2008, Williams appeared in Times Square , along with several other celebrities, to wish Israel

5698-449: Was rejected by director Chris Columbus due to the "British-only edict". In 2006, Williams starred in five movies, including Man of the Year , a political satire, and The Night Listener , a thriller about a radio show host who realizes that a child with whom he has developed a friendship may not exist. Williams continued to provide voices in other animated films, including Robots (2005),

5775-586: Was reported that Williams began an affair with Zachary's nanny, Marsha Garces , in 1986, Velardi stated in the 2018 documentary, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind , that the relationship with Garces began after the two had separated. On April 30, 1989, Williams married Garces, who was six months pregnant with their first child. They had two children, Zelda Rae (b. 1989) and Cody Alan (b. 1991). In March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce

5852-450: Was seen by TV producer George Schlatter , who asked him to appear on a revival of his show Laugh-In . The show aired in late 1977 and was his debut TV appearance. That year, Williams also performed a show at the L.A. Improv for Home Box Office . Although the Laugh-In revival failed, it led Williams to his television career; Williams continued performing stand-up at comedy clubs such as

5929-627: Was voted "Most Likely Not to Succeed" and "Funniest" by his classmates. After high school graduation, Williams enrolled at Claremont Men's College in Claremont, California , to study political science ; he dropped out to pursue acting. Williams studied theater for three years at the College of Marin , a community college in Kentfield, California . According to the College of Marin's drama professor, James Dunn,

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