Robin Williams' voice and character could turn on a dime. He learned his impressive skills while sitting alone at home as an overweight child and entertained himself by speaking in different voices.
His talent launched a career that spanned over five decades and earned him an Oscar and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, despite his high school classmates voting him "Least Likely to Succeed."
Here are seven less known facts about the actor and comedian who touched audiences' hearts around the world:
1. He Became Friends With Christopher Reeve At Julliard: Williams attended Julliard school from 1973 to 1976. Actor John Houseman accepted only two students into his Advanced Program each school year, and he chose Williams and Christopher Reeve during their freshmen year.
The Superman actor credited Williams for making him laugh for the first time after the 1985 horse-riding accident left him paralyzed. The comedian disguised himself as a doctor with a Russian accent and told Reeve to turn over. Obviously, he couldn't and almost called a nurse to assist, but soon realized it was old friend Williams.
2. He Stood On His Head For His "Happy Days" Audition: Garry Marshall didn't even want to audition Williams for the part of Mork, the alien visitor on "Happy Days." He had almost no screen experience, but he immediately impressed Marshall when he came in.
The show creator brought Williams into the audition room and asked him to sit down. Instead of taking a seat on the chair provided, Williams stood on his head. Marshall later said he was the only alien who auditioned.
3. He And Robert De Niro Were The Last People To See John Belushi Alive: Williams and Robert De Niro both visited separately with John Belushi hours before he died of a drug overdose. Williams snorted a few lines of cocaine with his friend, but didn't feel comfortable around Belushi's friend Cathy Smith, who later went to jail for supplying Belushi with the drugs.
4. He Ad-Libbed The Majority Of His Lines For "Aladdin": Williams went off script so much while recording the voice of "Aladdin's" Genie that the film had almost 16 hours of material. His ad-libs cost the script a chance to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film's screenwriters didn't give Williams a script for the street merchant's opening scene. Instead, they put the voice actor in a room with props and asked him to describe each piece in character. Much of the material recorded was not appropriate for the film.
5. Early Press Releases Attributed His Birthplace To Scotland: Early in his career, Williams told a reporter he was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His original press release even listed the country as his birthplace, when Williams was actually born in Chicago. He admitted he was "under the influence" at the time, according to IMDB.
6. He Cheered Up Steven Spielberg While The Director Filmed "Schindler's List": Steven Spielberg called up his "Hook" star regularly while filming his Oscar-winning movie "Schindler's List." He needed Williams to provide him with comic relief while filming the darker scenes for his Holocaust drama.
"Robin was a lightning storm of genius and our laughter was the thunder that sustained him," Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly. "He was a pal and I can't believe he's gone."
7. His Daughter Zelda Was Named After The Nintendo Character: Williams loved video games, especially the Nintendo series "Legend of Zelda." He named his second child, Zelda, after the title princess and dedicated his last tweet for her 25th birthday.
"I love you. I miss you. I'll try to keep looking up. -Z," Zelda tweeted after her father's death.
