I was about to share a few Robin Williams stories here, when out of the blue I was asked to do a live interview for the BBC --which I just did. They wanted to know what it was like writing on Mork & Mindy. When I could hear the Mork theme and his voice in the background clips, that hes gone and in such a horrible way -- it really hit me -- and still hard to grasp. He was as funny as any writer -- and so the joy of writing that show was to make HIM laugh. The bar was set high. My best memory was him falling off a chair laughing at a joke I wrote (very dated joke now) --that was my Emmy. My proudest moment on any show Ive ever worked on. You knew you were in the presence of magic -- it was exciting to be around him. His blue eyes twinkled mischievously with a sweet sadness behind them. He joked about his cocaine use. If he sneezed, hed say, There goes $10,000. He was hot for Pam Dawber (Mindy) and sometimes in a love scene, because of his exuberance theyd have to stop shooting until he calmed down. I dont know what the audience noticed, but the camera operators saw plenty. I was walking across the lot one day to the script reading and I heard someone yell, Wait up! It was Robin. I thought he cant be talking to me, so I looked behind me. And no one was around. I waited for him to catch up --and he had nothing to say to me. No small talk. Nothing. So I started asking him about his summer plans and he told me about Garp. And we talked about wrestling. It was awkward. We got to the reading room, he walked in and it was like a switch was flipped. Funny, crazy, joking! How many actors can move you to laugh hard and cry. He could do both with ease. I do remember something that was really sad. The night after Belushi died, we had a run through and everyone was very nervous because we knew he had been with him. The writers were sitting up in the stands, as he came in looking serious. He looked up at us and said, I know what youre all thinking. You think Im next. He was wrong. No one thought that. Maybe he thought that. We wanted him to go on then and we would want him to go on now. A shocking tragedy, but also a great legacy. I will remember Robin Williams with the bright light in his blue blue eyes and his genius --lightening fast jokes that not only made you laugh, but also astonished -- that anyone could think that fast on their feet. He had a sweetness about him and was friendly. I know Im lucky that I got the opportunity to work with him on a funny show and Im happy that hes being remembered for his immense talent and for being really nice. He will be greatly missed.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 08:41:08 +0000
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