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Mac Miller. Anthony Bourdain. Robin Williams. These are the three celebrity deaths during my lifetime that have well and truly affected me, that have made me feel as though I’ve lost someone that I actually knew. Robin Williams especially. Longest book I’ve read in the last, I don’t know, decade or so was Dave Itzkoff’s biography Robin, which was north of 500 pages. I don’t think I’ve read a book that long since I was crushing Harry Potter as a youngin’. My Mom still likes to brag about the fact that I read The Prisoner of Azkaban in one sitting. That was many lifetimes ago, though.
If I had to guess, I’d reckon that my affinity for Robin Williams has to do with when I grew up, which was the glorious late 90s. I tell ya, the 90s look better and better with each passing day we spend in this hellscape reality of ours. At that time, Williams — whose skill as a dramatic actor was his ability to imbue his characters with an almost father-like empathy — was starring in movies like Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, and hell, even Flubber. Not only were those films very much geared towards children, but they all allowed Williams to provide the emotional core as the tender father figure at the center of it all. More so than any other actor I’ve watched in my lifetime, Williams felt like an on-screen Dad. It was only in my adult years did I come to learn about the wild, drug-fueled life that fueled the previous decades of his career.
Given what I consider to be a genuine love for Williams, whenever his birthday or the anniversary of his death passes, I feel admittedly melancholy, as I’m reminded of the inescapable truth that this world was brighter with him in it. Luckily, though, I’m far from alone.
Rest in Peace, Robin. We still miss you and always will.
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