Comic icon Robin Williams would have turned 69 years old today, on July 21.
Williams was a longtime Bay Area resident, who lived with his family for many years in the Seacliff neighborhood of San Francisco, and then in Tiburon until his death in 2014, at the age of 63. This meant that, for many in the Bay Area, it wasn't really unusual to run into Williams on the street. Or the store. Or in numerous other unexpected places.
And the thing about people's stories of their "Robin Williams moment"? They're usually either very funny, or genuinely heartwarming.
We asked our audiences for their own stories on social media, and were overwhelmed by the response. Here's a short selection of some of the best encounters described for your enjoyment. You can read more of our audience stories on this Reddit thread, or on Twitter.
Some of these comments have been lightly edited for length or clarity.
"Back in the day I was the kitchen manager at Josie's Cabaret & Juice Joint. Robin Williams occasionally attended some of our performances. One afternoon I answered the reservation phone and the voice on the other end asked me to hold for 'Mr Williams's Executive Assistant.' After several rapid fire voice changes, I was 'transferred' to 'his special secretary' who sounded quite a bit like Mrs Doubtfire. This 'secretary' proceeded to reserve four tickets for Robin Williams and then switched to his regular voice and gave me his credit card information. It was only as I hung up that I realized I had just been treated to an exclusive Robin Williams performance." — MSeanF via Reddit
"At the 540 Club on Clement around January 2007. Random Thursday at 4pm. I was the only other one in there. He came with Green Apple Books bag in hand, ordered a shot of tequila, tipped a $20. I told him 'Death to Smoochy' is my fave movie. He chatted with me for half an hour. Such a sweet man." — @CrystalPepsi via Twitter
"My dad took me to see a bicycle race in SF when I was very young. I literally bumped into this strange man wearing bright yellow socks that had the nuclear radiation trefoil pattern on them. My dad said 'This is Robin Williams!' and I shook his hand but asked who he was. My dad said 'Genie, from Aladdin' and Robin said 'You will know who I am one day.'" — frenchvanilla via Reddit
"He came into a toy store I used to work at in Berkeley with one of his children (a boy), who must have been about three or four at the time (this was around 1994). I wanted to respect his privacy and so didn't speak with him, but did get treated to a special performance when he picked up a furry folk wolf puppet. He went crazy with it entertaining his son, who was absolutely in stitches. It was amazing to watch. He was so focused and present with his kid; I imagine it must have been quite an experience to grow up with him as a father. He ended up buying the wolf puppet, which I assume went on to an illustrious career at the Williams household." — thefinancethrowaway via Reddit
"Living in the Bay Area in the mid ‘80s, just one of a variety of jobs I had was doing balloon deliveries, and the most memorable one ever involved, you got it — Robin Williams. So picture this: there I was ... full clown regalia, colorful costume, clown wig, full face paint, all done up to deliver a birthday balloon bouquet to an office in San Francisco. When the person wasn’t there I left the bouquet with the receptionist ... Feeling a bit dejected, I got on the elevator: it went down one floor, the door opens and who gets in but Robin Williams. Phew! And in that split second when I saw him, I decided he deserved to be a private person and not just a celebrity, and chose not to say anything to him... So there I was in this elevator, full clown outfit, with Robin Williams (and damn, he was cute!) and I hear someone ask me if I was a clown and he answers 'No she’s a lawyer, we’re all clowns.'" — tallinnigirl via Reddit
"In the '80s I was working as a waitress at Churchill’s on 6th & Clement. On break with friends from the Last Day Saloon, sitting on the bench outside the Holy City Zoo. He came up and did this whole riff about my clogs. Ended up drinking out of one. I worked with a wet shoe." — @ErinPoh via Twitter
"I hosted a LAN party as part of a Thanksgiving Day celebration at his San Francisco home. He was joined in Unreal Arena by his kids and David Crosby while Sharon Stone watched. He checked on all the people running games and booths a few times to make sure we were warm and fed. I had a few games available and once he finished blowing up his kids in an Unreal Dungeon, he and David Crosby picked up a WWII air combat flight simulator. I was watching them dogfight when a woman's voice said 'What is going on here?!' and it was Sharon Stone and Phil Bronstein." — rhbaby via Reddit
"My parents's favorite story from when they lived in SF in the 80s: One night, they run into a man with a beautiful golden retriever. Dad of course wants to pet the dog. Stranger waits politely until he’s done. Nobody says anything. Turns out to be Robin Williams walking his dog. My dad never looked up from the dog he was petting. He had no idea who they had run into until my mom told him later. To this day, his defense is, 'Robin Williams had a very nice dog.'' — @magmokno via Twitter
"I was eating at The Cheesesteak Shop back in the day with my family and we noticed Robin Williams was with his son at a nearby table. We were ecstatic but didn’t want to bother him. My brother was a little kid and ended up falling asleep at the table. When Robin noticed this he brought over a chair from his table and set it next to my brother’s chair so he could sleep more comfortably lying down. It was such a kind and thoughtful gesture. We already loved him as an actor but loved him for his sweet caring soul too after that." — JLittle16 via Reddit
If you're craving even more Robin Williams stories, Broke Ass Stuart has this great roundup of memories from his fellow Bay Area comics.
We'll leave you with this tweet from Williams's daughter Zelda, who informed Twitter of how she'd be honoring her dad's 69th birthday today. It might inspire you, too.
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