David Bruce Books: David Bruce: The Kindest People: Be Excellent to Each Other (Volume 6) (Free PDF)

3. Memories of Robin Williams

Comedian/actor Robin Williams died on 11 August 2014. Many Redditors shared memories of him, including some memories about his good deeds:

1) flying_d wrote, “My Dad is a pilot and told me a story a few years back about meeting Robin Williams on one of his flights. He was actually commuting on a connect flight to Minneapolis from where he would be starting his trip from and happened to be sitting next to none other than Robin Williams’ wife (Robin was sitting a few seats ahead of him). My dad got up a short while into the flight and asked him if he wanted to switch seats with him so that he could be with his wife. According to my dad, Robin Williams responded with a friendly smile and said, ‘No, it’s okay. I feel a bit like wandering around right now anyway.’ He got up, shook my dad’s hand, and then proceeded to go say hey to other passengers for a bit. My dad said he was one of the friendliest guys he had ever met.”

2) bonyponyride wrote, “I met Robin in 1992 when I was 11 years old. The pool scene in Mrs. Doubtfire was filmed at the pool where I used to swim as a kid.

“One night I was with a friend at the pool and we thought we saw Robin swimming. We kept a close eye on him from 100 feet away, trying to figure out if it was actually him. The man stood up at the edge of the pool and looked over at us. It was him! We waved. He was wearing swimming paddles on his hands, so he immediately went into character, clapped the paddles together, barked at us like a seal and waved back.

“He got out of the pool and walked over to us, where we gushed to him about our favorite films of his. Then he signed a couple autographs, we thanked him for his time, and he went off to the locker room. I’ll never forget that moment. What a cool and hilarious dude.”

3) EbidColeslawToo wrote, “Mrs. Doubtfire came out right after my parents got divorced.

“I remember seeing it in the theatre with my brother and dad. Now, during any other movie, my dad would fall asleep …. But, I remember watching tears run down his cheek during Mrs. Doubtfire while he sat awake, wide-eyed for the whole movie (no doubt thinking about his own divorce and how much he loved his children).

“Even though I was only 7 at the time … I remember my father’s tears made me realize what a life-changing thing we were going through together.

“My father passed away 6 years after that — and watching Mrs. Doubtfire next to him in the theatre remains one of my favorite memories of him.”

4) asar5932 wrote, “When I was maybe 10 years old, I was in the lobby of a hotel in Baltimore and my dad tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to a guy standing in line. I turned and saw a short, hairy guy with a big backpack. When I realized who it was, I let out a gasp and made eye contact with Robin Williams. He then looked back at me and let out a gasp of his own. Small, insignificant story, but it makes me laugh thinking back to that.”

5) hibloodstevia wrote, “My favorite Robin Williams moment: He was asked by a reporter what he said to aspiring comedians who asked him if they should be a comedian.

“He flatly said, ‘I tell them no. Don’t do it.’

“When asked why he would say such a thing, he replied, ‘If they have the drive to make it, they’re not going to give a f[**]k about what I say. And if someone quits because I say that, then they weren’t going to make it anyway. I just saved that person from wasting their time.’”[1]

4. Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve

Robin Williams was good friends with Christopher Reeve, famous for playing the character Superman in several movies, while they attended Juilliard and afterward. In his 25 September 2013 “Ask Me Anything” session with Reddit, someone asked him what was his best memory of Mr. Reeve. Mr. Williams responded, “Him being such a great friend to me at Juill[i]ard, literally feeding me because I don’t think I literally had money for food or my student loan hadn’t come in yet, and he would share his food with me. And then later after the accident [in which Mr. Reeve was paralyzed], just seeing him beaming and just seeing what he meant to so many people.” Redditor Gamegirlab commented about the 2014 repost of Mr. Williams’ AMA: “After his accident, Reeve required surgery to reattach his skull to his spine, ‘was frightening to contemplate. … I already knew that I had only a fifty-fifty chance of surviving the surgery. … Then, at an especially bleak moment, the door flew open and in hurried a squat fellow with a blue scrub hat and a yellow surgical gown and glasses, speaking in a Russian accent.’ The man announced that he was a proctologist and was going to perform a rectal exam on Reeve. It was Robin Williams, reprising his character from the film Nine Months. Reeve wrote: ‘For the first time since the accident, I laughed. My old friend had helped me know that somehow I was going to be okay.’” As young adults studying acting at Juilliard in New York City, Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve promised that they would come to each other’s aid if either of them needed help. Of course, Mr. Williams became a famous comedian and actor, and Mr. Reeve became a famous actor. Mr. Reeve started competing in equestrian events, and he was severely injured in a fall at one of these competitions. Mr. Reeve had good insurance, but even good insurance may run out when an accident is severe, and Mr. Reeve’s accident was severe, putting him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and forcing him to rely on a breathing tube. Mr. Williams, as he had promised, came to Mr. Reeve’s aid, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for Mr. Reeve’s medical expenses and care. By the way, codskar commented, “My mother has a story of meeting you [Mr. Williams]. She was in a Hard Rock Cafe (57th St, roughly 1985) and found a snail in her salad. She tried to quietly alert the waiter — not wanting to make a scene. Apparently you jumped up from the table next to hers demanding that if she got a slug, you want[ed] one too, loud enough for the other customers to hear.”

5. “Jason … Could You Please Stop Having Cancer!”

On 23 March 2014, Redditor smores114 posted a photograph of comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Imgur with this caption: “My cousin was diagnosed with cancer a couple weeks ago. His good friend has a hookup who asks a tiny favor [for] my cousin.” The photograph shows Mr. Kimmel holding a sign that says, “Jason … Could You Please Stop Having Cancer!”

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

David Bruce: The Kindest People: Be Excellent to Each Other (Volume 6) (Free PDF)

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