Robin Williams died Monday, in an apparent case of suicide. The outpouring of grief and condolences would probably still be going on if not for the short attention span of an entertainment-gobbling public that has diverted their thoughts to yesterday’s passing of movie icon Lauren Bacall.
To be honest, I found Williams a kind of manic comic, and his shtick didn’t always work for me, often coming across as too stream-of-consciousness. And in his comedic movie roles there was frequently a “message” underneath all the jokes I found contrived (not his fault of course; he’s just following the script).
Nevertheless, he brought joy to millions with his joyousness and so deserves our attention.
The San Francisco Giants was his team of choice, but was this the genesis of his fandom?
Williams included sports in his stand-up material
Baseball also managed to find its way into some of his movies
Steven Goldman of Baseball Prospectus fame, saw Williams as the perfect actor to portray Casey Stengel, the subject of a Goldman biography.
Surprisingly, for all the Williamses who played in the Majors, none of them had the first name of Robin, although Mr. Yount is in the Hall of Fame and Mr. Ventura was an All-Star.
From Good Morning Vietnam:
Sgt. Major Dickerson (J.T. Walsh): [Pointing to his rank insignia] What does three up and three down mean to you, airman?
Adrian Cronauer (Robin WIlliams): End of an inning?
Game over for Robin Williams. R.I.P.
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