Robin Williams began his comedy career doing stand-up in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the 70s. He broke into the national scene after finishing as a finalist in the First International Open Stand Up Comedy Competition in San Francisco. Then, the rest is history, as they say, for the Chicago-born humorist.
Before his death in 2014, Williams had acted in 110 projects, according to IMDb. His legacy as a stand-up comedian is buttressed with nine studio albums and numerous filmed specials. Here are his five best and five worst roles as an actor.
10 Worst: Old Dogs (19)
The John Travolta and Williams led comedy/family flick from 2009 was greatly despised by critics, leading to an abysmal score of 19 on Metacritic. The great comedic minds of Williams blended with other cast-member Seth Green should've amounted to more in this story about two old 'bachelors.'
The premise: unexpectantly, Charlie and Dan must start taking care of twin children, which complicates their careers as businessmen. Apparently, even the best comedians cannot save banal storylines.
9 Best: Awakenings (74)
In 1990, Williams and De Niro teamed up for this highly-praised drama set in the 60s. Williams plays Dr. Malcolm Sayer, an optimistic neurologist working on medicinal treatments for Parkinson's Disease. Sayer eventually treats De Niro's character, Leonard Lowe, and they bond as friends while battling the disease.
Critics were moved, touched, and ultimately appeased by Awakenings. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Actor for De Niro's performance.
8 Worst: The Angriest Man In Brooklyn (21)
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn is a 2014 dramedy headed by the formidable acting trio of Williams, Mila Kunis, and Peter Dinklage. Despite its star-power and being the directorial comeback for Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams), critics had little to nothing positive to say about the movie.
Williams plays a depressed man who learns he has a brain aneurysm that will kill him in 90 minutes. The film was adapted from the Israeli 1997 comedy Mr. Baum, which didn't seem to knock critics out of their chairs, either.
7 Best: Happy Feet (77)
Williams voice-acted in both chapters of Happy Feet, but only the original was praised enough to be one of the comedian's best roles. He does the voices of Lovelace and Ramon in both installations, working alongside Elijah Wood (Mumble) and Brittany Murphy (Gloria).
Like other high-energy comedians, Williams' animated voice translates very well to voice-over acting, and he's made countless families across the globe laugh unreservedly from his roles in numerous family/animation productions like Happy Feet.
6 Worst: Patch Adams (25)
Critics' vitriolic responses to Patch Adams didn't seem to result from its acting performances by Williams, nor his co-stars Monica Potter and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Instead, the film's historical inaccuracy in depicting the famed American physician's life story, along with its artificial sentimentality, was what made critics embittered.
The 1998 dramedy represents a sore spot in Williams' extensive catalog of roles. His other 1998 role in What Dreams May Come is much more memorable, garnering attention at the Academy Awards.
5 Best: Insomnia (78)
2002's Insomnia is director Christopher Nolan's second feature-length film, coming after Memento in 2000. The psychological thriller/mystery stars Williams as the prime suspect for the murder of a teen-girl and Al Pacino as the veteran detective sent to Alaska to solve the case. One way the film differentiates itself from its thriller/mystery peers is through the convention of uninterrupted daylight, which is endured for months in northern parts of Alaska.
Williams' dark, chilling performance as the thriller's central antagonist is unlike the majority of his good-guy roles. Nolan's extraordinary filmmaking, plus the effective clashing of two dissimilar cinema legends, makes Insomnia quite unmissable.
4 Worst: License To Wed (25)
Williams is the invasive Reverand Frank in this widely disliked rom-com from 2007. Besides lead actor John Krasinski, the flick includes several cast members from The Office (U.S.), such as Brian Baumgartner and Mindy Kaling.
Nevertheless, a favorable cast couldn't save a script hollow of effective humor and originality. Unfortunately, none of the actors' careers benefited from this poorly-received rom-com.
3 Best: Dead Poets Society (79)
Dead Poets Society stands as Williams' best on-screen performance according to both Metacritic and hardcore Williams fans. The 1989 drama is set at a prestigious all-boys preparatory school in Vermont. Williams plays John Keating, a new English teacher at the school whose ideology and methods contrast with the institution's highly standardized and pressure-infused culture.
Ethan Hawke plays one of the students who are inspired by Keating's teachings, using them to break out of his predetermined shell and capture his true aspirations. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards including Williams' nomination for Best Actor, but it only won Best Original Screenplay.
2 Worst: The Big Wedding (28)
Williams was cast as a reverend in a rom-com once again in 2013's The Big Wedding, a star-powered mess according to critics. The film's core plotline occurs between Don (Robert De Niro) and Ellie Griffen (Diane Keaton), a divorced couple forced to pretend to be married for the sake of their adopted son's marriage.
The Big Wedding relies on its glossy cast for most of its value. Williams had a very limited role, but at least offers a fresh dose of humor in an otherwise bland memory.
1 Best: Aladdin (86)
The 1992 animated adventure/musical would not have reached the cultural heights it has without Williams' performance as Genie. The humorist was fairly busy at the time of the modern Disney classic's production, explicitly agreeing that the film not be advertised as a Robin Williams film in order to refrain from cramping the popularity of his other movies, Hook (1991) and Toys (1992).
Nevertheless, Aladdin ended up being Williams' best role, according to film critics. His zany improvisations make up some of the best lines in the film, and the role as an amorphous being was the perfect set-up for his various impersonations and characters. Robin Williams was a special, one-of-a-kind talent both on and off the screen.
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