Robin Williams 1951-2014

It has been a week now since the terrible news broke that Robin Williams was no longer with us. Since then many people have written many words far more eloquently than I ever could, but still I feel the need to write sometime to express just how deeply his loss was felt, not just by me but by hundreds and thousands of people around the world.

Like so many others I grew up watching Williams play the lovable alien Mork in Mork & Mindy. As a kid it appealed on a really simple level, here was an man doing funny things that made me laugh. Watching as adult the same can still be said, but what I can also appreciate now is what talent it took to make that character come to live, to be so innocent but not condescending, to pull off physical comedy with grace and not just for easy laughs and to pull an emotional punch when needed, after all Williams was an exceptional actor and comedian and this was to truly come to life in his impressive film career.

Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Awakenings, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage and Good Will Hunting will always turn up on my list of favorite films, films that can make you laugh and make you cry and for three of them at least remind me of my childhood. His stand-up was also truly exception and if you haven't seen it get onto Netflix now and find it.

I'm not ashamed to say that I shed more than a tear last week when I heard the news of his passing, it seems strange really, to cry over somebody you never met or knew, but in some small way it felt that I did and from the outpouring of sentiment over the last week I wasn't alone in feeling that.

So sleep well Sir, I hope you're up there cracking jokes with the best of them and thank you so, so much for everything.

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The ones who see things differently. While some may see crazy, we see genius."

The details surrounding the death of Robin Williams have been reported pretty insensitively by the mainstream press, depression is an illness that can strike anybody at anytime and doesn't discriminate. Den of Geek posted this the day after the news broke, not only is it one of the most classy things I have seen it also might just help somebody out there who is suffering in silence, please remember, you are wanted and you are loved and there will always be somebody to listen to and help you when you need it the most - http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/robin-williams/31684/where-to-get-help-with-depression