Robin Williams

I don't think that anyone can say that they weren't shocked by the news of Robin Williams' death. I was filled with sadness from the moment I read the text message I received from my sister at 6.30 this morning informing me of this terrible news. Completely shocking news.

Steve Martin, Steven Spielberg, Sally Field, even the President of the United States were amongst the first to express their disbelief and sadness that we lost one of our all time greatest actors. No, he was a comedian. No, he was a stand up, right? No, he was a humanitarian. No a film producer. No a screenwriter. No, he was all of those things, Robin Williams was the epitome of life. My definition being that you bring happiness to those around you and he did that in abundance. Those people around him being the entire world.

He may not of realised it at the end but he brought smiles to millions of faces that he would never actually see. Millions of faces from around the world, but we all knew his face. The face of a man who was known to different generations but loved by all and who will miss him so much.

I have always been a fan of Robin from an early age. That's kind of easy when you grow up watching re-runs of Mork and Mindy and then seeing him at the cinema in Hook and Mrs Doubtfire. Then as I grew older I saw his earlier films such as Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society and Awakenings. Even Club Paradise was a fun movie. Just mentioning a few of his films brings a smile to my face. Robin Williams is, sorry was, an actor who had an unrivalled ability to portray comedic and dramatic roles with equalled brilliance and believability. It seem cliché to say it but I don't think we will see another person like him.

A case in point, Robin Williams was the first person to make Christopher Reeve laugh after his accident. Superman was left paralysed from the neck down following a fall from a horse. He was about to go into an operation to reattach his skull to his spine, an operation which gave him only a fifty percent survival rate. As Reeve was in his hospital bed in came a seemingly manic doctor, who informed the patient that he was there to perform a rectal exam. This was Robin dressed as a doctor and portraying his character from the film Nine Months. Christopher Reeve was in his darkest hour yet he was able to smile because of Robin Williams.

This is why Robin Williams is a hero. He changes how someone feels. Most of that time it was someone he had never met. Yet that person can watch Mrs Doubtfire, or The Birdcage, or Good Will Hunting. Hell they can watch Toys and still have a reason to smile. That reason is Robin Williams.

Unfortunately Robin couldn't go on anymore, we don't know why, maybe we will never know. Or perhaps, and quite rightly, we shouldn't know. Everyone is entitled to a private life no matter what their celebrity and that should continue to be the case for Mr Williams' family. One could speculate about pressures that he felt whether they be financial, contractual, mental, physical or otherwise but these are moot points.

If you are feeling down, alienated, lonely or confused there are many organisations who can help so please seek them out. Just because someone suffers from depression doesn't make them any less of a person. In fact if you have suffered with depression it can make you a more enlightened person who can adapt to difficult circumstances and can see a different aspect of life. Stay strong.

Robin Williams will always be with us and can be someone we can learn from in more ways than one.