The Life of Robin Williams Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jonathan Winters

Robin McLaurim Williams was born to Robert and Laurie Williams on July 21, 1952. His parents had adult children from previous marriages, so Robin was more or less raised as an only child. Although his parents loved him and doted on him, he always felt that he had a special talent to make people laugh. His father always told him that there could never be too much laughter. As a young child, he used to impersonate Jonathon Winters to his friends and family. Robin thought that Winters was a terrific comic, so as one can imagine he was truly starstruck when he had the opportunity to work with Winters on the hit television series "Mork and Mindy." But that would not come until much later in Williams' life.

His parents moved when he was not quite ten years old, and being the new kid in a new school, Robin used his talent for laughter to get people to like him. And like him they did, he was a warm, charming, and witty person, who was a great friend to everyone that met him. Robin graduated from Redwood High School, which is located in Tiburon, California in 1969, he was seventeen years old.

Answer: Juilliard

At the conception of Juilliard School in 1905, it was simply called Institute of Musical Art. The school was founded by Dr. Frank Damrosch, who was the head of Music Education for New York City's public school system. The Institute of Musical Art was a new idea in the United States, because for many years American musicians had to travel abroad to receive the training that they required. Damrosch wanted to help the American musician, and so he his financial backer, James Loeb, planned to enroll only one hundred students. They had such an outpouring of applicants, that they expanded the enrollment. But how did the Institute of Musical Art get the name Juilliard? In 1919, the last will and testament of Augustus D. Juilliard, who was a very wealthy and powerful textile merchant left his entire fortune to the Institute of Musical Arts. In 1919, it was considered the largest bequest at that time. With the new found money and design of the school, it was able to help more talented musicians that anyone could dream possible. Ever changing to keep up with the times, and with the schools abroad, Juilliard initiated programs for dance (1951) and drama (1968). In 2001, the school initiated its Jazz program and continues to help people that are musically talented, those that have dancing in their blood, and those that love to act.

It was at Juilliard that Robin excelled, his teachers soon realized that he was better than most of the other students, and told him that with his natural abilities and unique sense of style, that he would go very far. Robin graduated in the top one percent of his class. Other famous alumni include Patti LuPone, Val Kilmer, David Ogden Stiers, Kelsey Grammer, Francis Conroy, Kelly McGillis, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Reeve, and William Hurt.

Answer: Happy Days

After graduating from Juilliard, Williams went to Hollywood in search of his dreams. He performed stand up comedy, worked as a busboy, and as a parking attendant. While performing one night, an aspiring agent named Michael Ovitz was in the audience, he loved the way Williams fed off of the crowd, and it was very obvious how the audience hung on his every word. After the performance, Ovitz went backstage to talk with Williams. Ovitz told Williams who he was and that he wanted to sign him, Robin was flabbergasted, and accepted the card with Ovitiz's name on it. It took three days for Williams to contact Ovitz, and when he did Ovitz was so ecstatic, that he told Williams he had been looking at scripts for him. Ovitz told Williams that he knew that he would contact him, and wanted to have some work lined up for when he called. Ovitz told Williams he had an audition set up for the next day, it was for a guest spot on the show "Happy Days." The character that he would be auditioning for was an alien named Mork, who comes to Earth from the planet Ork. Robin went to pick up the script from Ovitz, and immediately fell in love with the character of Mork. When he showed up for the audition the next day, he walked in and sat on the sofa head first! With that outstanding audition, the producer and director of "Happy Days" decided that they had indeed found their alien.

In the episode "My Favorite Orkan," which aired on February 28, 1978, Williams plays the zany alien known as Mork. In the episode Richie first sees what he believes to be an alien spaceship, and rushes into Arnold's to tell everyone what he saw. Potsie and Ralph laugh at him and tell him his life is hum drum. Richie tells them he knows what he saw, and storms out of Arnold's. At home he tries to tell his parents, Howard and Marion, what he saw and they don't believe him either. They hate to leave Richie, but they have an important dinner at the Leopard's Lodge, so they leave Richie watching television. Richie falls asleep, and in his dream he hears the door bell, he gets up from the sofa and answers it, and what does he see, but the alien from the spaceship. Mork walks passed Richie and blows up the television set with his finger! Richie flees the house and heads back for Arnold's. When he arrives at Arnold's no one is there and the lights are out, so he heads back home, and the alien is still there. Mork sees how upset Richie is and tells him to calm down, Richie tries, but is not all that successful at doing so. Finally, Richie finds his voice and asks if he can do an interview on him. The alien says yes, and tells Richie that his name is Mork and he comes from the planet Ork. He also tells him that his planet is doing research of life on Earth, and they are looking for someone average and hum drum. As Richie is talking to the zany alien, his parents and Joanie come home, he introduces them to Mork, and heads upstairs to pack. When Richie comes downstairs, Mork freezes Howard, Marion, and Joanie with his finger, and tells Richie that he will be gone at least a bleem, which is two thousand years in Earth time. Getting really freaked, Richie again flees and heads back towards Arnold's, but this time the lights are on and Richie heads inside. Mork is trailing him, and comes inside Arnold's like gangbusters and freezes Potsie and Ralph. Richie finds Fonzie in his 'office,' and tells the Fonz what is happening, and at that moment Mork rips off the door to the Fonz's 'office.' Fonzie tells Mork that he is not taking Richie anywhere. Mork then issues a challenge to Fonzie, he tells Fonzie, if he wins Richie goes to Ork with him, but if Fonzie wins then Richie can stay, Fonzie agrees and the battle starts. Mork starts zapping things with his finger, and then Fonzie starts snapping his fingers...this goes on for sometime, until Mork gets fed up and freezes Fonzie. Mork thinks he has won, and is ready to leave with Richie, but then we see Fonzie's thumb move and he comes out of the freeze that was imposed on him by Mork. Mork tells the Fonz that he had a change of heart, and will not be taking Richie but instead will be taking the Fonz, because he was such a worthy opponent...in that instant Richie wakes up from his dream as the Fonz is being taken away by Mork. As Richie awakens from his dream his parents are coming home, which is followed by a man that looks like Mork asking for directions...Richie screams and slams the door.Williams' performance as Mork was such a hit, that he was brought back in episode 139 entitled "Mork Returns," which aired on March 6, 1979.

Answer: The Richard Pryor Show and Comedy Tonight

Williams appeared on "The Richard Pryor Show," and "Comedy Tonight," in 1977. He had a guest appearance on "Happy Days," in 1978 and again in 1979, and "Laugh In," in 1979.

Answer: Good Morning, Vietnam

"Good Morning, Vietnam," is based on the true life story of Adrian Cronauer. Cronauer was a local radio disc jockey in Washington, D.C. Cronauer did not really want to join the service at the time of the Vietnam War, but he was given a choice, enlist or be drafted. With only those two choices, he enlisted in the Air Force, where he hoped to realize his dreams of learning to fly, he was never so mistaken. Cronauer was stationed in Crete and advised that he would be part of the television and news broadcast sector. While in Crete, he perfected what would eventually become his trademark. He had a program in Crete called "Good Morning, Heraklion!" Growing bored in Crete, he asked to be transferred to Saigon, Vietnam. It was in Vietnam that he became well known within the ranks of the troops, and was known as the guy who could make the men remember America.

Robin was so excited about this part that he wanted to meet the real life Adrian Cronauer, but when he met him, he found that the two really had nothing in common. Williams' portrayal of Cronauer was an excellent interpretation of a man who gave hope to the troops. The real Adrian Cronauer has said that "Robin and I are nothing alike. We don't talk the same, or act the same. Robin was playing a character that had the same experiences as Adrian Cronauer."

"Stakeout" was directed by John Badham, and was produced by Jim Kouf. It was released in 1987 and starred Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Dan Lauria, Madeleine Stowe, and Aidan Quinn.

"Hope and Glory" was directed by John Boorman. This movies was loosely based on the life of Boorman when he was nine years old. It was released in 1987 and starred Sebastian Rice-Edwards, Geraldine Muir, Derrick O'Connor, Sarah Miles, and David Hayman.

"Ironweed" was directed by Hector Babenco, with writing credits going to William Kennedy, III who wrote a novel by the same name. It was released in 1987 and starred Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, and Fred Gwynne.

The direct quote can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Gold/6654/good.htm

Answer: False

He received many awards from 1977 through 1998, but he never received an award for his character portrayal of Vladimir Ivanoff, a Russian musician who defects from his homeland while standing in the middle of Bloomingdale's department store.

Answer: Alan Parrish

"Jumanji" is about a twelve year old named Alan Parrish, who plays a board game that he found with his friend, Sarah. When Alan roles the dice in the game and comes up with the card that says "In the jungle you must wait until the dice roll five or eight," he vanishes into thin air and Sarah runs screaming out of the house. Alan's parents and the entire community think that he has been kidnapped, they search for him, but never find him. Eventually his parents die, while he spends twenty five years trapped in the game, until the house is sold to Nora Shepherd. Nora moves into the house with her niece and nephew, Judy and Peter. The kids find the old board game and begin to play, and Peter rolls a five on the dice and out pops Alan Parrish (Robin Williams). He must find his friend Sarah to continue the game, and they must save the town from all the creatures that escape from the game with every roll of the dice.

With this movie, Robin proves what a versatile actor he really is.

Answer: No

He was awarded the title of Funniest Man Alive, by "Entertainment Weekly" readers in 1994.

Answer: No

Robin married Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978 and had one child with her, a son named Zachary. The couple divorced in 1988.

On April 30, 1989 he met and married Marcha Garces with whom he has two children, a daughter named Zelda and a son named Cody.

Answer: One Hour Photo

"One Hour Photo," was directed by Mark Romanek. The entire movie is carried by Williams, who gives an outstanding performance as a lonely one hour photo lab technician, Seymour Parrish. This is Robin Williams at his finest.

All information can be found at www.imdb.com, and at Robin Williams' official website. Please note that all of the "Happy Days" information can be found at www.sitcomsonline.com, which gives complete details on his two appearances and the dates which he appeared on "Happy Days."