From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative actor and comedian. He often came across as a man possessed, but Itzkoff shows that Williams's comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt. Williams struggled with addiction and depression, and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. -- adapted from publisher info

"From New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff comes the definitive biography of Robin Williams-- a compelling portrait of one of America's most beloved and misunderstood entertainers. From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his powerful Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative actor and comedian. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture, politics, and personal revelation-- all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another. But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams's comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt. In his comedy and in celebrated films like Dead Poets Society; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Fisher King; Aladdin; and Mrs. Doubtfire, he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation, bringing his characters to life and using humor to seek deeper truths. Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a performer whose work touched so many of our lives"--Book jacket.

Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, this biography offers a fresh and original look at the life and career of Robin Williams. New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff explores how comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt. Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression, and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew.