I had a treat this morning as the SO drove me to work, as he needed to get his tyre fixed and we heard the last bit of a radio announcement saying that a 63-year-old had died from suspected suicide. I asked him what the name was and he said he hadn't heard either and we carried on driving.
When I got into work I can honestly say I had a lump in my throat when I found out the 63-year-old was infact Robin Williams.
When I got into work I can honestly say I had a lump in my throat when I found out the 63-year-old was infact Robin Williams.
"You're only given a little spark of madness. You musn't lose it." - Robin Williams
For me, and people of my generation, Robin Williams and his comedy dominated my childhood with one of the fondest memories being the time I was ill home from school and was allowed to watch Aladdin. Even though I felt dire, I couldn't stop laughing at the Genie. Of course, he was also in Hook, Bi-centennial Man and maybe my favourite - Mrs Doubtfire.
I'm not one to feel touched or heartbroken by celebrity deaths, though Rik Mayall's unexpected death a few months ago really hit home. However, this was because of the connection to my dad and spending loads of time when I was little (too little probably) watching Bottom and the Young Ones. But the death of Robin Williams, and the fact he has taken his own life, is something that has genuinely effected me.
In a statement from his wife, and the tribute from his daughter Zelda, they both urge everyone to focus on his life rather than his death and so I will. Whenever it is that I have children I will show them the magic in films like Aladdin and watch them tear up just as I did when he sets the Genie free. Though, maybe they will have to wait a while until I introduce them to One Hour Photo and how ridiculously scary a man I grew up with can be.
I'm not one to feel touched or heartbroken by celebrity deaths, though Rik Mayall's unexpected death a few months ago really hit home. However, this was because of the connection to my dad and spending loads of time when I was little (too little probably) watching Bottom and the Young Ones. But the death of Robin Williams, and the fact he has taken his own life, is something that has genuinely effected me.
In a statement from his wife, and the tribute from his daughter Zelda, they both urge everyone to focus on his life rather than his death and so I will. Whenever it is that I have children I will show them the magic in films like Aladdin and watch them tear up just as I did when he sets the Genie free. Though, maybe they will have to wait a while until I introduce them to One Hour Photo and how ridiculously scary a man I grew up with can be.
So Robin Williams, a narrator of my childhood and many happy memories, I hope you have found some solace and comfort now, and I hope 'death is but the next great adventure'.
"You, you alone will have the stars as no one else has them. In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the stars at night. You - only you - will have the stars that can laugh." - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
"I love you. I miss you. I'll try to keep looking up. Z" - Tribute from Zelda Williams