We are saddened by the passing of Robin Williams who spread joy and laughter to millions through his work both on and off-screen. Williams is recognized for not only as a comedy genius, and Oscar Award-winning actor but also for his philanthropy efforts through his work with charity, events, and causes.
Robin Williams took part in America: A Tribute to Heroes charity telethon for victims of 9/11, Comic Relief to raise money for America’s homeless raising more than $80 million, and he also toured the Middle East five times with the USO to help raise morale among the American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Williams had a full scholarship to the prestigious Julliard School in New York City where he met and became close friends with his classmate and roommate, Christopher Reeve. The two remained close, and after the horse riding accident that left Reeve paralyzed, Williams was there to show his friend how to smile again, arriving dressed as a doctor and claiming to be Reeve’s proctologist. It was the first time Reeve laughed after the incident. Robin Williams went on to become a board member of the Christopher Reeve Foundation as well as his own Windfall Foundation.
Robin’s philanthropy work covered a wide spectrum of philanthropy from health care and human rights, to environmental protection, education, and the arts. He used his incredible energy to help a variety of causes, from visiting children’s wards in hospitals to entertaining US troops in war zones.
Robin Williams was famous for making people laugh and working on the film, but his philanthropy will not go unnoticed. He was a very generous man who gave his time and efforts to help others and won people’s hearts through his philanthropy work as well. Reeve Foundation President and CEO Peter Wilderotter stated, “While the world knew Robin Williams as an Oscar-winning actor, we knew a different side to the man whose smile was as big as his heart”.
