Published By: Nirtika Pandita

Robin Williams’s films that are a must-watch

There is better, fun and enlightening to watch than Williams on the screen

A brilliant talented American actor and comedian, Robin Williams was a gem of one kind. Williams was known for his improvisational skills and the ability as a performer to do a wide variety of voices. He is regarded as one of the best comedians of all time. Williams first began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s but subsequently rose to fame playing the alien Mork in the sitcom Mork& Mindy.

While there are timeless beautiful narrations performed by Williams, here are a few brilliant works of the actor to watch.

Dead Poets Society In this 1989 film with Williams as an English teacher John Keating, his performance combines his impeccable spontaneous imaginative delivery with a grounded emotional performance. His character as a teacher is someone who cares more about his students than the school politics and playing by the rules. This earned him his second Oscar nomination and his third Golden Globes nomination.

Good Will Hunting This film won Williamsthe Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, as well as his second Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as Dr. Sean Maguire, a psychologist. As the Dr Maguire character he is trying to break through to troubled math genius Will Hunting played by Matt Damon. This caring performance revealed a new dimension of his acting capabilities earning him his eighth Golden Globe nomination.

Aladdin This film is regarded as one of the best examples of Williams’ distinguished acting skill. Voicing the animated character of Genie in Aladdin gave Williams a free-rein to go wild and extremely creative with his imagination. Arguably it is one of the best vocal performances in a feature film ever and earned Williams his third Golden Globe Award.

Night At The Museum As the night watchman Ben Stiller in the comic fantasy film about a museum wherein the exhibits come to life at night including wax figure of President Theodore Roosevelt played by Williams. Again, learning and understanding the character so well, Williams brought Roosevelt to life in an unimaginable manner.

Jumanji One might be happy and excited watching Dwayne Johnson’s version of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but the original with Williams was an exception in all forms of story-telling, antics, and Williams’performance. In the 1995 Jumanji Williams plays Alan, who was sucked into the board game Jumanji as a child and reappears 26 years later as an adult.

Few other Robin Williams films that are worth a mention are Insomnia, Popeye, Toys, Hook, Happy Feet, and One Hour Photo, to name a few.