Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind Page #8

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and I wanted that

for him too.

I didn't want

to hold him back.

So... we...

gave each other up.

The saddest thing

in the world is life, man.

-You telling me?

-Mm-hmm.

It gets so bad sometimes,

I don't think I'll make it.

(laughs lightly)

I ever tell you

I had a kid?

I got involved

with this girl, man,

and she got pregnant,

went on back home

to Alabama.

Thomas Ava Witherspoon,

five years old.

-I think of that kid,

I want to cry.

-Oh, that's wonderful.

Well, why don't

you cry, man?

It's good for you.

Oh, I don't have to cry.

I don't need to cry.

Lionel. Lionel.

You know...

I have whole family

I will never

ever see again.

Velardi:

Contrary to what

national papers said,

Robin and I had ended

our marriage...

and then Robin

and Marsha started up

a relationship.

That story of him

running off with the nanny,

everybody got carried

away with it,

and because

I didn't counter that,

because I don't talk

to the press...

they got skewered,

and I was sorry for that.

And I'm sorry

for Marsha,

that she had to start

her adventure

with Robin in such

an unpleasant way.

Robin:

It was a year after

I had been separated.

And she only took care

of Zachary for a short time

and then became

my assistant.

When I was on the road,

she would help me

write material.

I started to get

my life together,

I fell in love

with Marsha.

I started

to just go, "Wait,

I don't have

to live this kind

of madhouse existence."

And that's when

my life was saved by her,

not ruined by her.

She's real

honest about things,

about everything...

in terms of work,

in terms of life.

If I start to get

a little kind of like this,

she'll say, "Wise up."

If I start to get

too insecure,

she'll say,

"Stop it. You're great."

She's really grounded

in that sense.

Someone who

was very childlike

in a lot of ways

was awesome

to have as a dad

as a young kid.

He would set up

a whole yard

filled with,

you know, toys.

My dad wasn't afraid

to get his hands dirty,

and jump in

and play with kids

but on their terms.

Man:

B28 take 2,

"A" and "B" cameras.

Barry Levinson:

Action!

(flute plays tune)

Good morning,

Vietnam!

Hey, this is not a test.

This is rock 'n' roll!

Time to rock it

from the Delta

to the DMZ!

Is that me, or does that sound

like an Elvis Presley movie?

"Viva Da Nang."

Ohhhh, viva Da Nang

Da Nang me,

Da Nang me

Why don't they get

a rope and hang me?

Hey, is it a little too early

for being that loud?

Hey, too late.

In those days,

television and film were

two different worlds.

It was rare that you had

crossover TV people

doing film

and film people

doing TV.

Good Morning, Vietnam!

was the first real

commercial hit,

and it established Robin

as a real actor.

And he suddenly was

becoming a movie star.

Steve Martin:

I don't remember

when I met him.

You know,

we would brush up

against each other,

but we got

to know each other

a little bit better

when we did

Waiting for Godot.

He was debating

whether to do it,

and I said, "We do

Waiting for Godot,

I mean, who--

who could touch us?"

(laughs)

You know, who's-- who's--

What comedians are doing

Waiting for Godot?

-Moron!

-Vermin!

-Abortion!

-Morpion!

-Sewer rat!

-Curate!

-Cretin!

-Critic!

(audience laughs)

Robin:

I was learning from him

physical comedy

and just the nuts

and bolts of timing.

Because obviously

when I do my act,

I don't have timing.

Oh!

(audience laughs)

Robin:

And he is just literally

about the comedy of pause,

you know,

holding back.

-Ack!

-Didi! Didi!

(vocalizes

The Twilight Zone

theme music)

(audience laughs)

Didi! Didi.

(reporter speaks)

No, it's-- it's--

it's definitely theater.

(reporter 2 speaks)

Martin:

I-I-- I don't know how

to answer that.

The differences are

obvious to me.

And to do this play,

it's one of the most

powerful pieces

of literature

in the 20th century.

I think it kind of helps.

Martin:

Except for Cruel Shoes.

Cruel Shoes I think was

one of the second most

powerful pieces of literature.

You know, it really helps

to do something

that's so amazing,

that every night

you can do it differently,

but yet it's the same.

You can get deeper

and deeper within this play

and find things,

every night you can change

because it's so amazing.

Funny. For me,

I figured it out

on day one,

and it never changed.

(laughter)

Your turn.

You think

God sees me?

You must close

your eyes.

God, have pity

on me.

And me.

On me. On me.

Pity on me!

His character

was interestingly...

hurt, and he played it

very vulnerable,

as I think

he was in life too.

Onstage he was

the master and in charge

and funny and quick.

And in life, you know,

he wasn't onstage anymore.

I just felt a little bit of...

I think he was really

comfortable onstage

and less comfortable offstage.

Always felt him holding--

holding himself together.

It was at a time

I think he was...

clean... and--

and it was

a very difficult... clean.

You know, it's hard,

it was hard.

I don't mean

that he slipped

or anything like that.

He didn't. I just

think he really had

to concentrate... on that.

There you are.

You've become

a reformed alcoholic.

You've got

a steaming glass

of Perrier, going,

"I feel so much better

about myself! God damn it."

"I feel really healthy now!

(laughs)

"No, go ahead,

have your cocktail.

"I'll be over

in the corner

hurting the cat.

(maniacal laugh)

Oh God damn!"

(cheers, applause)

Man:
Do you know

of any other people whose

minds work faster than yours?

Robin:
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I'm starting

to meet them.

Oliver Sacks,

playing him

in Awakenings.

Man:

Right.

Robin:

He's such

a compassionate man,

and the idea

of treating the brain

as a subjective subject.

This is the idea

of the brain

can be one thing

and then the other

simultaneously.

What about this?

(laughs)

What do you

mean, this?

It's a strobe.

You're wrong.

All of this before

is the strobe.

This is me saying

his name to him.

Excuse me.

Robin:

Oliver is someone

who thinks

on-- on levels that

I've never dreamed of.

Man:
He introduced you

to a guy with Tourette's

syndrome named Shane.

It had a profound

influence on you.

Robin:

Definitely.

I-I began-began

touching-touching,

you know,

touching-touching things.

You know, touching,

you know. (shouts)

Robin:
Here's a disease

that basically makes you

do, physically, things

you have no control over.

Along with it

comes this incredible

mental acceleration,

lets you think faster

than most people.

Pardon me?

Oh yeah, sure.

Robin:

And the price

you pay is

that you can't control

a lot of those movements.

The complexity and

the total unpredictability

of the human brain,

that's what I learned

from meeting Shane.

The brain is

one thing that controls

bodily functions,

and then there's this

other thing which is divine,

called the mind.

There is deity within you,

there is that-- that spark,

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