Robin Williams was a genius and a gift to us all

Once in a while there’s an event in Hollywood that really shakes this town to the core.

And if an event is big here, it’s massive all over the rest of the world, too.

Robin Williams’ tragic death last week sent a tidal wave of grief over my adopted hometown.

There are few stars here that were and still are loved and admired as much as Robin.

When the news broke there was disbelief throughout the entertainment community. That’s because Robin was a wonderful talent who will be sadly missed.

On the red carpet he was an absolute scream and was well-known for leaving interviewers in stitches.

He was a genius whose quick wit could catch you off-guard you were showered in witticisms and left shaking with mirth.

I was lucky enough to interview him many times, and he was an absolute gift. You could throw anything at him and he’d hit you with a barrage of jokes.

My interview with him came when the comedy adventure Jumanji was released.

I asked Robin if he wanted to play a game how else would he use the word “Jumanji” if it was a noun, a verb or an adjective?

What followed was a deluge of word associations and gags that flowed from him like a river.

I couldn’t stop laughing, and it was great telly to watch him in full flow too.

I love a one-liner, and Robin was excellent at those he could deliver three and be finished before you had the chance to process the first one.

“Cocaine is God’s way of saying you’re making too much money,” he once joked, and Robin spoke from experience, of course.

“If it’s the Psychic Network, why do they need a phone number?” he quipped.

One of my favourite gags of his came at his stand-up shows.

“We had gay burglars the other night,” he said. “They broke in and rearranged the furniture.”

He was an incredible mimic too. The perfect Scottish accent he employed for Mrs Doubtfire was borrowed from his good friend, Bill Forsyth, director of Local Hero.

Speaking to people about their memories of Robin has really revealed the sheer depth of his body of work.

When the tragic news broke last week I immediately thought back to the sitcom Mork and Mindy.

Writers would simply leave a couple of pages of the script blank and print “Robin improvises”, and he’d oblige effortlessly.

I asked Brianna what she would most remember him for, and she said it was the moving drama, Patch Adams.

Someone else said the edgier comedy of Good Morning Vietnam. For someone else it was low-key performance in Good Will Hunting.

Or the creepy stalker in One Hour Photo. It’s slowly dawned on all of us what a wonderful body of work he left behind.

The same could be said for another legend we sadly lost this week, Lauren Bacall.

She was another Hollywood icon. Again, I found myself chatting about Bacall’s career with loads of different people, and how we all wanted to sit and watch some of her movies.

I got to speak to her once and she was one feisty lady, I can assure you. She sadly died at her home at in Los Angeles following a stroke last week.

I’m not sure there are many positives to take from this week, all in all. Everyone knew Robin had battled demons in the past, but I think most people thought that’s just where his problems were. In the past.

We now know that sadly that wasn’t the case. I don’t want to speculate on how depressed he was, whether he had money worries or if he had Parkinson’s Disease.

He was a sensitive man, who had a family who must be feeling the most tremendous grief. I hope they have time to come to terms with what happened.

What has been nice though is that people are saying they loved Robin Williams. It’s inspired me to spend my Sunday evening with a couple of movies. I’ll start with Key Largo, then perhaps Good Morning, Vietnam. Perfect.