Hollywood and comedy legend Robin Williams was one of the funniest men ever to walk the planet. He’s starred on numerous hilarious TV shows and movies, and his stand up routines sold-out auditoriums across the globe.
But, despite his fame, Williams also had a reputation for just being a genuinely nice human being.
His lovable and affable persona both on and off screen made it even more shocking when Williams suddenly died after committing suicide in 2014.
Since then there’s been a hole in Hollywood that just no one will ever be able to fill. Williams was indeed a unique, one-of-a-kind entertainer, who had irresistible charisma and impeccable comedic timing impossible to replicate.
Yet, despite his fame and the massive global outpouring of grief when he left us. To this day, numerous anecdotes and little-known secrets about the legend continue to find their way to the public.
The latest revelation, coming courtesy of Brian Lord, president of the Premiere Speakers Bureau, is one of the most touching stories about Williams you’ll ever hear.
Lord wasn’t a close friend of Williams, nor privy to the entertainer’s daily life. But all the same, through attempting to book the “Good Morning Vietnam” star, he was treated to an insight into the man that he’ll never forget.
“Years ago I learned a very cool thing about Robin Williams, and I couldn’t watch a movie of his afterward without thinking of it,” Lord wrote on his blog.
“I never actually booked Robin Williams for an event, but I came close enough that his office sent over his rider. You can learn a lot about a person from their rider.”
While many would expect celebrities to make unreasonable demands or unusual requests, instead all Williams wanted was something that said everything you needed to know about his character.
“When I got Robin Williams’ rider, I was very surprised by what I found.
“He actually had a requirement that, for every single event or film he did, the company hiring him also had to hire a certain number of homeless people and put them to work.”
“I’m sure that on his own time and with his own money, he was working with these people in need, but he’d also decided to use his clout as an entertainer to make sure that production companies and event planners also learned the value of giving people a chance to work their way back,” Lord continued.
“He was a great multiplier of his impact. Let’s hope that impact lives on without him. Thanks, Robin Williams—not just for laughs, but also for a cool example.”
What an amazing and beautiful soul. Robin Williams made this world a better place and left it poorer in his absence.