Robin Williams made his name in the television show Mork and Mindy before successfully moving into films, particularly in comedies and became one of the most popular actors of the 1990's. He studied acting at Juilliard but his style did not fit and move to California doing stand-up and improvisation. His fist major role was in the television series Mork and Mindy. His first main film role was the lead in Popeye which was not a great film. There followed several comedy dramas and then Good Morning Vietnam which won him a Best Actor Oscar nomination. THis was successful and showed both his acting talents and his stand-up / improv skills. Dead Poets Society was a more serious role as the unorthodox teacher and he was again Oscar nominated for Best Actor. Awakenings was a serious drama but Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King was a veru surreal film for which was had another Best Actor Oscar nomination. He was a grown up peter Pan in Steven Spielburg's and the voice of the genie in Disney's Aladdin in which he improvised a lot of his dialogue. In Mrs Doubtfire he plays a female housekeeper to get into his estranged family. Jumanji was a move back to more wacky films for children. His first Shakespeare role was in Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet. Good Will Hunting was a demonstartion of his abiltiy as a serious actor and won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In One Hour Photo he plays a creeps obsessive man. Insomnia is a criminal thriller that is a very different character and style of film.
