Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
Name	Toys
Director	Barry Levinson
Producer	Mark JohnsonBarry Levinson
Writer	Valerie Curtin &Barry Levinson
Starring	Robin WilliamsMichael GambonJoan CusackRobin WrightLL Cool JDonald O'ConnorArthur MaletJamie FoxxJack WardenDebi Mazar
Music	Hans ZimmerTrevor Horn
Cinematography	Adam Greenberg
Editing	Stu Linder
Studio	Baltimore Pictures
Distributor	20th Century Fox
Released	December 18, 1992 (USA)
Runtime	121 minutes
Country
Language	English
Budget	$43 million
Gross	$21,452,082 (USA) | }}

''Toys'' is a 1992 comedy film directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Joan Cusack, Robin Wright, LL Cool J, and introducing Jamie Foxx as Baker. The film failed at the box office at the time of its release, despite its impressive cast and lavish filmmaking. Levinson was criticized for a lack of plot focus. The magnitude of perceived directorial failure was such that Levinson was consequently nominated for (but did not win) a Razzie Award for Worst Director. The film did, however, receive Oscar nominations for art direction (Ferdinando Scarfiotti, Linda DeScenna) and costume design. It was also entered into the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.

René Magritte's art, particularly ''The Son of Man'', is obvious in its influence on the set design, and in part the costume design, of the film. The poster for the film distributed to movie theaters features Robin Williams in a red bowler hat against a blue, cloud-lined background. ''Golconda'' is also featured during a sequence where Robin Williams and Joan Cusack's characters perform in a music video sequence rife with surreal imagery, much of it Magritte-inspired.

Plot

At the Zevo Toys factory in a lovely field of green, owner Kenneth Zevo (Donald O'Connor) is dying. He expresses to his assistant Owens (Arthur Malet) that he wants control of the business to go to his brother, a retired military man, and not to his son Leslie (Robin Williams), whom he deems to be too immature.

After Zevo dies, his brother Lt. General Leland Zevo (Michael Gambon) takes over. At first he has no interest in anything at the factory until he hears of possible leaks and corporate espionage. The General brings in his son Patrick (LL Cool J), a soldier and expert in covert military operations, to oversee security. He soon decides to make a series of war toys to the dismay of Leslie as Zevo has never made war toys because his father, Kenneth, did not like them.

After a confrontation with Leslie, Leland halts the development of the war toys. He asks Leslie for some space to work alone to develop some toys of his own and states he doesn't want Leslie to see them because they might not be good enough. Leland's continued demands for more space, rigid security and top-secret projects dismay the childlike Leslie, his innocent and child-like sister Alsatia (Joan Cusack), a factory worker Leslie has developed a crush on, Gwen (Robin Wright) and Owens.

Leslie becomes more suspicious when Owens shows him children arriving at the factory and ushered into the restricted area. He breaks into a research area and discovers kids playing realistic war video games. After setting off the alarm he runs through a door and falls into a well-like water tank where he sees and seems to be drowned by another toy of the Leland's, the "Sea Swine" (an amphibious drone with more autonomy than the other toys).

Patrick decides to go against his father after he discovers that his mother did not die of a appendicitis but disappeared when his father sent her on a covert mission. After revealing his father's true plans of using dangerous weaponry in the form of toys, Patrick, Leslie, Alsatia, Gwen and Owen launch an attack on the General's labs to shut down his war projects.

The increasingly demented General sees this as his greatest war opportunity and attempts to destroy them all. First he sends out weapons disguised as toys, then he sends his "Tommy Tanks" and "Whirly Burly Helicopters".

An intense battle takes place between the General's toys and the original Zevo toys.

Leslie manages to win the battle and along with Patrick is very angry with the General for attempting to kill them all. Suddenly Alsatia is attacked by the General's secret weapon the Sea Swine, revealing that she is a gynoid built by Leslie's father as a play-mate for Leslie. While they are seeing to Leslie's sister, Leland tries to make his escape, but the malfunctioning Sea Swine tracks him down and attacks him as well resulting in his defeat.

In the end, Leslie is the new head of Zevo Toys, Alsatia is fixed, Gwen becomes Leslie's girlfriend, Leland is hospitalized, and Patrick decides to move on to other missions. As peace is restored to the toy factory in lush green pasture, a large toy elephant floats by overhead.

Cast

Character	Actor
Leslie Zevo	Robin Williams
Lt. General Leland Zevo	Michael Gambon
Alsatia Zevo	Joan Cusack
Gwen Tyler	Robin Wright (actress)>Robin Wright
Capt. Patrick Zevo	LL Cool J
Kenneth Zevo	Donald O'Connor
Owen Owens	Arthur Malet
Baker	Jamie Foxx
Cortez	Julio Oscar Mechoso
Hagenstern	Blake Clark
Researcher Miss Drum	Yeardley Smith
Choir Soloist	Wendy Melvoin
Old General Zevo	Jack Warden
Nurse Debbie	Debi Mazar
Little Boy	Jack Levinson

Trailer

The film was publicized with a trailer, which featured Williams walking through a large undulating field of green grass and breaking the fourth wall, while talking to the audience. This trailer was parodied in on the TV show ''The Simpsons'' in the episode "Burns' Heir", substituting Mr. Burns for Williams.

Soundtrack

Video game

A video game based on the film, ''Toys: Let the Toy Wars Begin!'', was released in 1993 for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis systems by Absolute Entertainment. The game is played from an overhead perspective, and involves the player, as Leslie Zevo, attempting to destroy the elephant-head security cameras in the factory, cafeteria, and warehouse levels in order to shut down those defenses. Once the player gets to the Manhattan model, the game switches to a side-scrolling ''Gradius''-style level, where the player must fly all the way to the General's control center, shut down the production of the war toys, and save the good name of Zevo Toys.

Reception

Toys received a generally negative reaction from critics and failed commercially.

References

External links

A review of ''Toys'' from ''Rolling Stone''

Toys (VG) from ''Gamespot''

Category:1992 films Category:1990s comedy films Category:American films Category:American comedy films Category:American fantasy adventure films Category:English-language films Category:Films about toys Category:Films directed by Barry Levinson Category:Films shot in Washington (state) Category:Robot films Category:20th Century Fox films

de:Toys (Film) es:Toys fr:Toys it:Toys - Giocattoli ja:トイズ (映画) pl:Zabaweczki pt:Toys ru:Игрушки

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Robin Williams
birth name	Robin McLaurin Williams
birth date	July 21, 1951
birth place	Chicago, Illinois, United States
medium	Stand-up, film, television
nationality	American
active	1972–present
genre	Character comedy, physical comedy, improvisational comedy, satire/political satire, observational comedy, blue comedy
influences	Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, George Carlin, Chuck Jones
influenced	Conan O'Brien, Frank Caliendo, Dat Phan, Jo Koy
spouse	Valerie Velardi (1978–88; 1 child) Marsha Garces Williams (1989–2011; 2 children)
website	RobinWilliams.com

Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951) is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series ''Mork and Mindy'', and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1997 film ''Good Will Hunting''. He has also won two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.

Early life

Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Laura McLaurin (née Smith, 1922–2001), was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams (September 10, 1906 – October 18, 1987), was a senior executive at Ford Motorship in charge of the Midwest area. His maternal great-great-grandfather was senator and Mississippi governor Anselm J. McLaurin. Williams is of English, Welsh, Irish, and French ancestry. He was raised in the Episcopal Church (his mother practiced Christian Science). He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he was a student at the Detroit Country Day School, and later moved to Woodacre, Marin County, California, where he attended the public Redwood High School. Williams studied at Claremont McKenna College (then called Claremont Men's College) for four years. He has two half-brothers: Todd (who died August 14, 2007) and McLaurin.

Williams has described himself as a quiet child whose first imitation was of his grandmother to his mother. He did not overcome his shyness until he became involved with his high-school drama department.

In 1973, Williams was one of only 20 students accepted into the freshman class at the Juilliard School, and one of only two students to be accepted by John Houseman into the Advanced Program at the school that year, the other being Christopher Reeve. In his dialects class, Williams had no trouble mastering all dialects quickly. Williams left Juilliard in 1976.

Television career

After appearing in the cast of the short-lived ''The Richard Pryor Show'' on NBC, Williams was cast by Garry Marshall as the alien Mork in the hit TV series ''Happy Days''. As Mork, Williams improvised much of his dialogue and physical comedy, speaking in a high, nasal voice. Mork's appearance was so popular with viewers that it led to a spin-off hit television sitcom, ''Mork and Mindy'', which ran from 1978 to 1982; the show was written to accommodate Williams' improvisations. Although playing the same character as in his appearance in ''Happy Days'', the show was set in the present day, in Boulder, Colorado, instead of the late '50s in Milwaukee. Mork was an extremely popular character, featured on posters, coloring books, lunchboxes, and other merchandise.

Starting in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Williams began to reach a wider audience with his standup comedy, including three HBO comedy specials, ''Off The Wall'' (1978), ''An Evening with Robin Williams'' (1982), and ''Robin Williams: Live at the Met'' (1986). Also in 1986, Williams reached an ever wider audience to exhibit his style at the 58th Academy Awards show.

His stand-up work has been a consistent thread through his career, as is seen by the success of his one-man show (and subsequent DVD) ''Robin Williams: Live on Broadway'' (2002). He was voted 13th on Comedy Central's list "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time" in 2004.

After some encouragement from his friend Whoopi Goldberg, he was set to make a guest appearance in the 1991 ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode, "A Matter of Time", but he had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict; Matt Frewer took his place as a time-traveling con man, Professor Berlingoff Rasmussen. Williams, along with Billy Crystal, appeared in a cameo together at the beginning of an episode of the third season of ''Friends''. Both Williams and Crystal's parts weren't originally in the script. They were apparently in the building where the show was shooting and were asked to improvise their lines.

Williams appeared on an episode of the American version of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' (Season 3, Episode 9: November 16, 2000). During a game of "Scenes from a Hat", the scene "What Robin Williams is thinking right now" was drawn, and Williams stated "I have a career. What the hell am I doing here?" On December 4, 2010, he appeared with Robert De Niro on SNL in the sketch ''What Up with That''.

Movie roles

Most of Williams' acting career has been in film, although he has given some performances on stage as well (notably as Estragon in a production of ''Waiting for Godot'' with Steve Martin). His performance in ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987) resulted in Williams being nominated for an Academy Award. Many of his roles have been comedies tinged with pathos.

His role as the Genie in the animated film ''Aladdin'' (1992) was instrumental in establishing the importance of star power in voice actor casting. Williams also used his voice talents in ''Fern Gully'', as the holographic Dr. Know in the 2001 film ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'', in the 2005 animated film ''Robots'', the 2006 Academy Award-winning ''Happy Feet'', and an uncredited vocal performance in the film ''Everyone's Hero''. Furthermore, he was the voice of The Timekeeper, a former attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort about a time-traveling robot who encounters Jules Verne and brings him to the future.

In 1998, he won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a psychologist in ''Good Will Hunting''. Williams has also starred in dramatic films, which earned him two subsequent Academy Award nominations: First for playing an English teacher in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989), and later for playing a troubled homeless man in ''The Fisher King'' (1991); that same year, he played an adult Peter Pan in the movie ''Hook''. Other acclaimed dramatic films include ''Awakenings'' (1990) and ''What Dreams May Come'' (1998). In the 2002 film ''Insomnia'', Williams portrays a writer/killer on the run from a sleep-deprived Los Angeles policeman (played by Al Pacino) in rural Alaska. And also in 2002, in the psychological thriller ''One Hour Photo'', Williams played an emotionally disturbed photo development technician who becomes obsessed with a family for whom he has developed pictures for a long time. In 2006 Williams starred in ''The Night Listener'', a thriller about a radio show host who realizes he has developed a friendship with a child who may or may not exist.

He is known for his improvisational skills and impersonations. His performances frequently involve impromptu humor designed and delivered in rapid-fire succession while on stage. According to the ''Aladdin'' DVD commentary, most of his dialogue as the Genie was improvised.

In 2006, he starred in five movies including ''Man of the Year'' and was the Surprise Guest at the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. He appeared on an episode of ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' that aired on January 30, 2006.

At one point, he was in the running to play the Riddler in ''Batman Forever'' until director Tim Burton dropped the project. Earlier, Williams had been a strong contender to play the Joker in ''Batman''. He had expressed interest in assuming the role in ''The Dark Knight'', the sequel to 2005's ''Batman Begins'', although the part of the Joker was played by Heath Ledger, who went on to win, posthumously, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He was portrayed by Chris Diamantopoulos in the made-for-TV biopic ''Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy'' (2005), documenting the actor's arrival in Hollywood as a struggling comedian.

Disputes with Disney

In gratitude for his success with the Disney/Touchstone film ''Good Morning, Vietnam'', Robin Williams voiced the Genie in the Disney animated film ''Aladdin'' for SAG scale pay ($75,000), on condition that his name or image not be used for marketing, and his (supporting) character not take more than 25% of space on advertising artwork, since ''Toys'' was scheduled for release one month after ''Aladdin'''s debut. The studio went back on the deal on both counts, especially in poster art by having the Genie in 25% of the image, but having other major and supporting characters portrayed considerably smaller. Disney's Hyperion book, ''Aladdin: The Making Of An Animated Film'', listed both of Williams' characters "The Peddler" and "The Genie" ahead of main characters, but was forced to refer to him only as "the actor signed to play the Genie".

Williams and Disney had a bitter falling-out, and as a result Dan Castellaneta voiced the Genie in ''The Return of Jafar'', the ''Aladdin'' animated television series, and had recorded his voice for ''Aladdin and the King of Thieves.'' When Jeffrey Katzenberg was fired from Disney and replaced by former 20th Century Fox production head Joe Roth (whose last act for Fox was greenlighting Williams' film ''Mrs. Doubtfire''), Roth arranged for a public apology to Williams by Disney. Williams agreed to perform in Hollywood Pictures' ''Jack'', directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and even agreed to voice the Genie again for the ''King Of Thieves'' sequel (for considerably more than scale), replacing all of Castellaneta's dialogue.

When Williams re-teamed with ''Doubtfire'' director Chris Columbus for 1999's ''Bicentennial Man'', Disney asked that the budget be cut by approximately $20 million, and when the film was released on Christmas Day, it flopped at the box office. Williams blamed Disney's marketing and the loss of content the film had suffered due to the budget cuts. As a result, Williams was again on bad terms with Disney, and Castellaneta was once again recruited to replace him as Genie in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series and the ''House of Mouse'' TV series. The DVD release for ''Aladdin'' has no involvement whatsoever from Williams in the bonus materials, although some of his original recording sessions can be seen.

Robin Williams has recently made peace with the Walt Disney Company and in 2009 agreed to be inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame, designated as a Disney Legend.

Stand-up career

Williams has done a number of stand-up comedy tours since the early 1970s. Some of his most notable tours include ''An Evening With Robin Williams'' (1982), ''Robin Williams: At The Met'' (1986) and ''Robin Williams LIVE on Broadway'' (2002). The latter broke many long-held records for a comedy show. In some cases, tickets were sold out within thirty minutes of going on sale.

After a six year break, in August 2008 Williams announced a brand new 26-city tour titled "Weapons of Self Destruction". He was quoted as saying that this was his last chance to make cracks at the expense of the current Bush Administration, but by the time the show was staged only a few minutes covered that subject. The tour started at the end of September 2009, finishing in New York on December 3, and was the subject of an HBO special on December 8, 2009.

Accusations of plagiarism

Williams was accused of stealing material from other comics to the extent that David Brenner claims that he confronted Williams personally and threatened him with bodily harm if he heard Williams utter another one of his jokes.

Theater career

In theatre, Williams has headed his own one-man show, ''Robin Williams: Live on Broadway'', that played at The Broadway Theatre in July 2002. He made his Broadway acting debut in Rajiv Joseph's ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', which opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 31, 2011. He previously appeared opposite Steve Martin at Lincoln Center in an Off-Broadway production of ''Waiting for Godot''.

Personal life

Robin Williams' first marriage was to Valerie Velardi on June 4, 1978, with whom he has one child, Zachary Pym (Zak) (born April 11, 1983). During Williams' first marriage, he was involved in an extramarital relationship with Michelle Tish Carter, a cocktail waitress whom he met in 1984. She sued him in 1986, claiming that he did not tell her he was infected with the herpes simplex virus before he embarked on a sexual relationship with her in the mid-1980s, during which, she said, he transmitted the virus to her. The case was settled out of court. Williams and Velardi divorced in 1988.

On April 30, 1989, he married Marsha Garces, his son's nanny who was already several months pregnant with his child. They have two children, Zelda Rae (born July 31, 1989) and Cody Alan (born November 25, 1991). However, in March 2008, Garces filed for divorce from Williams, citing irreconcilable differences.

On August 20, 2007, Williams' elder brother, Robert Todd Williams, died of complications from heart surgery performed a month earlier.

Williams is a member of the Episcopal Church. He has described his denomination in a comedy routine as "Catholic Lite – same rituals, half the guilt."

While studying at Juilliard, Williams befriended Christopher Reeve. They had several classes together in which they were the only students, and they remained good friends for the rest of Reeve's life. Williams visited Reeve after the horse riding accident that rendered him a quadriplegic, and cheered him up by pretending to be an eccentric Russian doctor (similar to his role in ''Nine Months''). Williams claimed that he was there to perform a colonoscopy. Reeve stated that he laughed for the first time since the accident and knew that life was going to be okay.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams had an addiction to cocaine; he has stated that he has since quit. Williams was a close friend of and frequent partier alongside John Belushi. He says the death of his friend and the birth of his son prompted him to quit drugs: "Was it a wake-up call? Oh yeah, on a huge level. The grand jury helped too."

On August 9, 2006, Williams checked himself in to a substance-abuse rehabilitation center (located in Newberg, Oregon), later admitting that he was an alcoholic. His publicist delivered the announcement:

After 20 years of sobriety, Robin Williams found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family. He asks that you respect him and his family's privacy during this time. He looks forward to returning to work this fall to support his upcoming film releases.

Williams was hospitalized in March 2009 due to heart problems. He postponed his one-man tour in order to undergo surgery to replace his aortic valve. The surgery was successfully completed on March 13, 2009, at the Cleveland Clinic.

Other interests

Williams is an avid enthusiast of games, even naming both his children after game characters. He named his daughter after Princess Zelda from ''The Legend of Zelda'' action-adventure game series. They both have even been featured in an advert for the Nintendo 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111044-New-Zelda-Ad-Stars-Robin-Williams-and-his-Daughter-Zelda On this note, his son may have been named after Cody from the beat 'em up game ''Final Fight''. He also enjoys pen-and-paper role-playing games and online video games, recently playing ''Warcraft 3'', ''Day of Defeat'', ''Half-Life'', and the first-person shooter ''Battlefield 2'' as a sniper. He was also previously a fan of the ''Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games.

On January 6, 2006, he performed live at Consumer Electronics Show during Google's keynote. In the 2006 E3, on the invitation of Will Wright, he demonstrated the creature editor of ''Spore'' while simultaneously commenting on the creature's look: "This will actually make a platypus look good." He also complimented the game's versatility, comparing it to ''Populous'' and ''Black & White''. Later that year, he was one of several celebrities to participate in the Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day.

A fan of professional road cycling, he was a regular on the US Postal and Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team bus and hotels during the years Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France. He owns over 50 bicycles.

He also enjoys rugby union and is a big fan of former All Black, Jonah Lomu.

Williams is a supporter of eco-friendly vehicles. He currently drives a Toyota Prius, and is on the waiting list for an Aptera 2 Series electric vehicle.

Williams has recently announced that he would love to play The Riddler in the next installment to the ''Batman'' films by director Christopher Nolan, though Nolan has stated that The Riddler will not be featured in the film.

Charity work

Williams and his former wife, Marsha, founded the Windfall Foundation, a philanthropic organization to raise money for many different charities. Williams devotes much of his energy to charity work, including the ''Comic Relief'' fundraising efforts (the program is hosted by himself, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg). In December 1999, he sang in French on the BBC-inspired music video of international celebrities doing a cover of the Rolling Stones' "It's Only Rock & Roll" for the charity Children's Promise.

In response to the 2010 Canterbury Earthquake, Williams donated all proceeds of his "Weapons of Self Destruction" Christchurch performance to helping rebuild the New Zealand city. Half the proceeds were donated to the Red Cross and half to the mayoral building fund with the words "I hope this donation will go some way to helping the extensive rebuilding effort in the city." Williams has performed with the USO for U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Filmography

+ Film credits
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1977	''Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?''	Himself
1980		Popeye
1982	''''
1983		Donald Quinelle
1984	''Moscow on the Hudson''	Vladimir Ivanov	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1986		Tommy Wilhelm
1986	''Club Paradise''	Jack Moniker
1986	''''	Jack Dundee
1987	''Good Morning, Vietnam''	Adrian Cronauer
1988	''''	King of the Moon
1988	''Portrait of a White Marriage''	Air Conditioning Salesman	Uncredited
1988	''Rabbit Ears: Pecos Bill''	Narrator	Voice
1989	''Dead Poets Society''	John Keating
1989	''I'm from Hollywood''	Himself
1990	''Cadillac Man''	Joey O'Brien
1990	''Awakenings''	Dr. Malcolm Sayer
1990	''Back to Neverland''	Himself
1991	''Dead Again''	Doctor Cozy Carlisle
1991	''''	Parry
1991		Peter Banning/Peter Pan
1991	''Rabbit Ears: The Fool and the Flying Ship''	Narrator	Voice
1992		Leslie Zevo	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor
1992		Genie, merchant
1992	''''	The Timekeeper
1992	''FernGully: The Last Rainforest''	Batty Koda	Voice
1992	''Shakes the Clown''	Mime Class Instructor
1993	''Mrs. Doubtfire''	Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Doubtfire
1993		Hector
1994	''In Search of Dr. Seuss''	Father
1995		Alan Parrish
1995	''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar''	John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
1995	''Nine Months''	Dr. Kosevich
1996	''Aladdin and the King of Thieves''	Genie	Voice
1996		Osric
1996		The Professor
1996		Jack Powell
1996	''''	Armand Goldman
1997	''Good Will Hunting''	Sean Maguire
1997		Professor Philip Brainard
1997	''Deconstructing Harry''	Mel/Harry's Character
1997		Dale Putley
1998
1998	''Junket Whore''	Himself
1998		Chris Nielsen
1999		Andrew Martin
1999	''Jakob the Liar''	Jakob Heym/Narrator
1999	''Get Bruce''	Himself
2000	''Model Behavior''	Faremain
2001	''A.I. Artificial Intelligence''	Dr. Know	Voice
2002	''''	Hans Hänkie
2002		Walter Finch	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	''Death to Smoochy''	'Rainbow' Randolph Smiley
2002	''One Hour Photo''	Seymour 'Sy' Parrish
2004		Charlie Boyd/The Priest
2004	''House of D''	Pappass
2004	''''	Alan W. Hakman
2005	''''	Paul Barnell
2005		Fender
2005	''''	Himself
2006		Tom Dobbs
2006	''Night at the Museum''	Theodore Roosevelt
2006	''Happy Feet''	Ramon/Lovelace	Voice
2006	''Everyone's Hero''	Napoleon Cross	Voice
2006		Bob Munro
2006	''''	Gabriel Noone
2007	''License to Wed''	Reverend Frank
2007	''August Rush''	Maxwell "Wizard" Wallace
2009		Holden
2009	''World's Greatest Dad''	Lance Clayton
2009	''Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian''	Theodore Roosevelt
2009		Dan Rayburn
2011	''Happy Feet 2''	Ramon, Lovelace	Voice; filming

+ Television credits
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1977	''''	Himself
1977
1977	''Eight is Enough''		Episode: "The Return of Auntie V"
1978	''Happy Days''		Episode: "My Favorite Orkan" (There are two versions of this episode. One with the original ending where events were all a dream of Richie Cunningham's and another that sets up the Mork and Mindy spin-off series. Williams appears in both versions.)
1978	''America 2-Night''	Jason Shine	Episodes: "Jason Shine" and "Olfactory Distosis Telethon"
1978–1982	''Mork & Mindy''
1979	''Happy Days''		Episode: "Mork Returns"
1979			Episode: "Random's Arrival"
1981	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself	Host/Various
1982	''''	Himself	Episode: #1.1
1982	''Faerie Tale Theatre''	Frog/Prince Robin	Episode: "Tale of the Frog Prince"
1982		Various	Episode: "Jane Eyrehead"
1984	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself	Host/Various
1984	''Pryor's Place	Gaby	Episode: "Sax Education"
1986	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself	Host/Various
1986	''The Max Headroom Show''	Himself	Episode: "Max Headroom's Giant Christmas Turkey"
1988	''Saturday Night Live''	Himself	Host/Various
1988	''Wogan''	Himself
1991	''Wogan''	Himself
1991	''''	The Kiwi	Voice (Credited as Sudy Nim)
1992	''''	Himself	Episode: "Hank's Contract"
1994	''Homicide: Life on the Streets''	Robert Ellison
1994	''Live & Kicking''	Himself
1994	''''	Himself	Episode: "Montana"
1994	''Nyhetsmorgon''	Himself	Episode: "Filmen 'Mrs. Doubtfire' svensk premiär"
1994	''In the Wild''	Himself	Episode: "In the Wild: Dolphins with Robin Williams"
1995	''Primer Plano''	Himself
1996	''American Masters''	Himself	Episode: "Take Two: Mike Nichols and Elaine May"
1996	''Primer Plano''
1996	''HBO First Look	Himself	Episode: "Fathers Day"
1997	''Friends''	Tomas	Uncredited
1998	''Nyhetsmorgon''	Himself/Sean Maguire	Episode: "Filmen 'Good Will Hunting
1998	''Hollywood Squares''	Himself	Guest appearance
1998	''Noel's House Party''	Himself	Episode: #8.10
1999	''L.A. Doctors''	Hugo Kinsley	Episode: "Just Duet"
2000		Himself	Episode: #3.9
2002	''Comedy Central Canned Ham''	Himself	Episode: "Death to Smoochy"
2002	''Leute heute''	Himself
2002	''Supermarket Sweep''	Himself
2003	''Player$''	Himself	Episodes: "E3 03, Playa", "Players Halloweenie Televizzie"
2003	''Freedoom: A History of Us''	Josiah Quincy/Ulysses S. Grant/Missouri Farmer/Wilbur Wright/Orville Wright	Episodes: "Wake Up America", "A War to End Slavery", "Liberty for All", and "Safe for Democracy"
2003	''Life With Bonnie''	Kevin Powalski	Episode: "Psychic"
2004	''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''	Himself
2005	''Just For Laughs''	Himself
2006	''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''	Himself
2006	''Mind of Mencia''	Himself	Episode: "That's F**king Historical"
2006	''Getaway''	Himself	Episode: #15.15
2008		Ivan "Bob" Poppanoff the "Russian Idol"/Himself	Episodes: "Idol Gives Back" and "Live Results Show: One Contestant Eliminated"
2008	''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''	Merrit Rook
2009	''SpongeBob SquarePants''	Himself	Episode: "Truth or Square"
2009	''TV Land Moguls''	Himself	Episode: "The 80s"
2010	''Alan Carr Chatty Man''	Himself
2010	''Pentagon Channel''	Himself	"Promotional Advertisement for the Pentagon Channel"
2011		Himself	Episode: "What Drugs Do To Our Bodies?"

Discography

''Reality...What a Concept'' (1979)

''Throbbing Python of Love'' (1983)

''A Night at The Met'' (1986)

''Pecos Bill'' (1988)

''Live 2002'' (2002)

''Weapons of Self Destruction'' (2010)

Williams appeared in the music video of Bobby McFerrin's hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

He made a cameo in Cobra Starship's Video "You Make Me Feel..." along with his daughter, Zelda Williams.

References

"Road Trip with Robin"

"Robin Williams mimic ends 'fraud'" (BBC News)

"Robin Williams' impersonator stopped" (AskMen.com)

"Robin Williams Enters Rehab", August 9, 2006 (Access Hollywood)

Lovece, Frank, ''New York Newsday'' (April 27, 2006)

Bibliography

External links

Robin Williams – official website

Category:1951 births Category:Actors from California Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American Episcopalians Category:American film actors Category:American impressionists (entertainers) Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of French descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Welsh descent Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Audio book narrators Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:Living people Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Marin County, California Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Saturn Award winners

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Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
image name	PrettyBoyFloyd01.jpg
birth date	February 03, 1904
birth place	Adairsville, Georgia, U.S.
death date	October 22, 1934
death place	East Liverpool, Ohio, U.S.
conviction penalty	Life in prison (escaped)
conviction status	Deceased
occupation	Gangster, bank robber
spouse	Ruby Floyd (divorced)
children	Charles Dempsey Floyd }}

Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934) was an American bank robber. He operated in the Midwest, and his criminal exploits gained heavy press coverage in the 1930s. Like most other prominent outlaws of that era, he was killed by law enforcement officers. He remains a familiar figure in American popular culture, sometimes seen as notorious, but at other times viewed as a tragic figure, partly a victim of hard times.

Life of crime

Floyd was born in Georgia, but grew up in Oklahoma. He spent considerable time in nearby Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri. He was first arrested at the age of 18 after he stole $3.50 in coins from a local post office. Three years later he was arrested for a payroll robbery on September 16, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri, and served five years in prison.

When paroled, Floyd vowed that he would never see the inside of another prison. Entering into partnerships with more established criminals in the Kansas City underworld, he committed a series of bank robberies over the next several years; it was during this period that he acquired the nickname "Pretty Boy." According to one account, when the payroll master targeted in a robbery described the three perpetrators to the police, he referred to Floyd as "a mere boy — a pretty boy with apple cheeks." Like his contemporary Baby Face Nelson, Floyd hated his nickname.

In 1929, he faced numerous arrests. On March 9, he was arrested in Kansas City on investigation, and again on May 6th for vagrancy and suspicion of highway robbery, but was released the next day. Two days later, he was arrested in Pueblo, Colorado, charged with vagrancy. He was fined $50.00 and sentenced to 60 days in jail.

In November 1929, he traveled to Oklahoma for his father's funeral. Floyd's father, who was unarmed, had been killed by his neighbor Jim Mills who was acquitted despite an eyewitness account who later went missing.

One of the members of Floyd's gang, "Frank Mitchell" was arrested in Akron, Ohio, on March 8, 1930, charged in the investigation of the murder of an Akron police officer, who had been killed during a robbery that evening.

The law next caught up with Floyd in Toledo, Ohio, where he was arrested on suspicion on May 20, 1930; he was sentenced on November 24, 1930, to 12–15 years in Ohio State penitentiary for the Sylvania Ohio Bank Robbery but he escaped.

Floyd was a suspect in the deaths of bootlegging brothers Wally and Boll Ash of Kansas City. They were found dead in a burning car on March 25, 1931. A month later on April 23, members of his gang killed Patrolman R. H. Castner of Bowling Green, Ohio, and on July 22 Floyd himself killed ATF Agent C. Burke in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1932, former sheriff Erv Kelley of McIntosh County, Oklahoma, tried to ambush/arrest Floyd; he was killed on April 7. In November of that year, three members of Floyd's gang attempted to rob the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Boley, Oklahoma.

Kansas City massacre

Floyd and Adam Richetti became the primary suspects in a June 17, 1933, gunfight known as the "Kansas City massacre" that resulted in the deaths of four law enforcement officers. Though J. Edgar Hoover used the incident as ammunition to further empower the FBI to pursue Floyd, historians are divided as to whether or not he was involved.

The gunfight was an attack by Vernon Miller and accomplices on lawmen escorting robber Frank "Jelly" Nash to a car parked at the Union Railway Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Two Kansas City, Missouri officers, Detective William Grooms and Patrolman Grant Schroder; McAlester, Oklahoma Police Chief Otto Reed; and FBI Special Agent Ray Caffrey were killed. Nash was also killed as he was sitting in the car. Two other Kansas City police officers survived by slumping forward in the backseat and feigning death. As the gunmen inspected the car, another officer responded from the station and fired at them, forcing them to flee. Miller was found dead on November 27, 1933, outside Detroit, Michigan, beaten and strangled.

Miller's accomplices stopped at the gas station of Ben Homer Eyerly in Gardner, Kansas, as they fled the scene. "Papa Ben" Eyerly was used to sending out his son Clarence to pump gas, but on this day sent Clarence to lock himself in the back of the store. "Papa Ben" pumped the gas for two bloodied gangsters and they paid. No questions were asked.

Floyd and Richetti were alleged to have been Miller's accomplices. Factors weighing against them included their apparent presence in Kansas City at the time, eyewitness identifications (which have been contested), Richetti's fingerprint said to have been recovered from a beer bottle at Miller's hideout, an underworld account naming Floyd and Richetti as the gunmen, and Hoover's firm advocacy of their guilt. Fellow bank robber Alvin Karpis, an acquaintance of Floyd's, claimed that Floyd confessed involvement to him. On the other side of the issue, the bandit alleged to have been Floyd was supposed to have been wounded by a gunshot to the shoulder in the attack, and Floyd's body showed no sign of this injury when examined later. The underworld account identifying Floyd and Richetti as the killers was offset by equally unreliable underworld accounts proclaiming their innocence or identifying others. The Floyd family has maintained that while Floyd owned up to many other crimes, he vehemently denied involvement in this one, as did Richetti. It has also been contended that this crime would have been inconsistent with Floyd's other criminal acts, as he was not otherwise known as a hired gun or (especially) a hired killer.

Shortly after the attack, Kansas City police received a postcard dated June 30, 1933, from Springfield, Missouri, which read: "Dear Sirs- I- Charles Floyd- want it made known that I did not participate in the massacre of officers at Kansas City. Charles Floyd". The police department believed the note to be genuine. Floyd also reportedly denied involvement in the massacre to the FBI agents who had fatally wounded him. In addition, a recent book on the massacre attributes at least some of the killing to friendly fire by a lawman who was unfamiliar with his weapon, based on ballistic tests.

Death

On October 22, 1934, Floyd was killed in an apple orchard near East Liverpool, Ohio, while being pursued by local law officers and FBI agents led by Melvin Purvis. Varying accounts exist as to who shot him and the manner in which he was killed.

Having narrowly escaped ambush by FBI agents and other law enforcement agencies several times after the Kansas City Massacre, Floyd had a stroke of bad luck. On October 18, 1933 , he and Richetti left Buffalo, New York, and slid their vehicle into a telephone pole during a heavy fog. No one was injured, but the car was disabled. Fearing they would be recognized, Floyd and Richetti sent two female companions to retrieve a tow truck; the women would then accompany the tow truck driver into a town and have the vehicle repaired while the two men waited by the roadside.

After dawn on October 19, motorist Joe Fryman and his son-in-law passed by, observing two men dressed in suits lying by the roadside. Feeling it was suspicious, he informed Wellsville, Ohio, Police Chief John H. Fultz. Three officers, including Fultz, investigated. When Richetti saw the lawmen, he fled into the woods, pursued by two officers, while Fultz went toward Floyd. Floyd immediately drew his gun and fired, and he and Fultz engaged one another in a gunfight, during which Fultz was wounded in the foot. After wounding Fultz, Floyd fled into the forest. The other two officers enlisted the help of local retired police officer Chester K. Smith, a former sniper during World War I, and subsequently captured Richetti. Floyd remained on the run, living on fruit, traveling on foot, and quickly becoming exhausted.

At least three accounts exist of the following events: one given by the FBI, one by other people in the area, and one by local law enforcement. The accounts agree that, after obtaining some food at a local pool hall owned by Charles Joy, a friend of Floyd's, Floyd hitched a ride in an East Liverpool neighborhood on October 22, 1934. He was spotted by the team of lawmen, at which point he broke from the vehicle and fled toward the treeline. Local retired officer Chester Smith fired first, hitting Floyd in the right arm, knocking him to the ground. At this point, the three accounts diverge; the FBI agents later attempted to claim all the credit, denying local law enforcement were even present at the actual shooting. According to the local police account, Floyd regained his footing and continued to run, at which point the entire team opened fire, knocking him to the ground. Floyd died shortly thereafter from his wounds.

According to the FBI, four FBI agents, led by Purvis, and four members of the East Liverpool Police Department, led by Chief Hugh McDermott, were searching the area south of Clarkson, Ohio, in two separate cars. They spotted a car move from behind a corn crib, and then move back. Floyd then emerged from the car and drew a .45 caliber pistol, and the FBI agents opened fire. Floyd reportedly said: "I'm done for. You've hit me twice."

However, Chester Smith, the retired East Liverpool Police Captain and sharpshooter, described events differently in a 1979 interview for ''Time'' magazine. Smith, who was credited with shooting Floyd first, stated that he had deliberately wounded, but not killed, Floyd. He then added: "I knew Purvis couldn't hit him, so I dropped him with two shots from my .32 Winchester rifle." According to Smith's account, after being wounded, Floyd fell and did not regain his footing. Smith then disarmed Floyd. At that point, Purvis ran up and ordered: "Back away from that man. I want to talk to him." Purvis questioned Floyd briefly, and after receiving curses in reply ordered agent Herman "Ed" Hollis to "Fire into him." Hollis then shot Floyd at point-blank range with a submachine gun, killing him. The interviewer asked if there was a cover-up by the FBI, and Smith responded: "Sure was, because they didn't want it to get out that he'd been killed that way." This account is extremely controversial. If true, Purvis effectively executed Floyd without benefit of judge or jury.

FBI agent Winfred E. Hopton disputed Chester Smith's claim in a letter to the editors of ''Time Magazine'', that appeared in the November 19, 1979, issue, in response to the ''Time'' article "Blasting a G-Man Myth." In his letter he stated that he was one of four FBI agents present when Floyd was killed, on a farm several miles from East Liverpool, Ohio. According to Hopton, members of the East Liverpool police department arrived only after Floyd was already mortally wounded. He also claimed that when the four agents confronted Floyd, Floyd turned to fire on them, and two of the four killed Floyd almost instantly. Additionally, while Smith's account said that Herman Hollis shot the wounded Floyd on Purvis's order, Hopton claimed that Hollis was not present. Hopton also stated Floyd's body was transported back to East Liverpool in Hopton's personal car.

Floyd's body was embalmed and briefly viewed at the Sturgis Funeral Home, in East Liverpool, Ohio before being sent on to Oklahoma. Floyd's body was placed on public display in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. His funeral was attended by between 20,000 and 40,000 people and remains the largest funeral in Oklahoma history. He was buried in Akins, Oklahoma.

Legacy

In music

In March 1939, five years after Floyd's death, Woody Guthrie, a native of Oklahoma, wrote a song romanticizing Floyd's life, called "The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd." The song has the form of a Scottish "come-all-ye" ballad opening with the lines

"If you'll gather 'round me, children, a story I will tell 'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an Outlaw, Oklahoma knew him well."

The lyrics play up Floyd's generosity to the poor, and contain the famous lines:

"As through this world you travel, you'll meet some funny men/ Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen."

This song has been performed by many country and folk musicians and has been recorded many times, Bob Dylan (on the Smithsonian's 1988 ''Folkways: A Vision Shared (A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly)'' album), The Byrds (on their ''Sweetheart of the Rodeo'' album), Melanie Safka on her album Madrugada, Guthrie's son Arlo Guthrie (on his album ''Precious Friend'' with Pete Seeger), The Duhks (on their album ''Your Daughters & Your Sons''), and Christy Moore (on his album Live in Dublin with Donal Lunny).

In literature

In John Steinbeck's 1939 novel ''The Grapes of Wrath'', the character Ma Joad refers several times to Pretty Boy Floyd as a young man driven to a tragic fate by the Great Depression.

''Pretty Boy Floyd, '' a fictionalized account of Floyd's life by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana was published in 1995. (ISBN 0671891650)

In film

A film, ''Pretty Boy Floyd'', was made in 1960 by Herbert J. Leder, starring John Ericson.

Robert Conrad played Floyd in the 1965 film ''Young Dillinger''.

Another film, ''A Bullet for Pretty Boy'', was released in 1970, starring Fabian.

Floyd was played by Steve Kanaly in the 1973 film ''Dillinger''.

Martin Sheen took the title role in the 1974 TV movie, ''The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd''.

Floyd was portrayed by Bo Hopkins in the 1975 TV movie, ''The Kansas City Massacre''.

Floyd was portrayed by Channing Tatum in the 2009 film ''Public Enemies'', starring Christian Bale and Johnny Depp.

See also

List of Depression-era outlaws

Boley, Oklahoma, 1932 Armed citizens of Boley thwart a bank robbery attempt by members of Pretty Boy Floyd's gang

References

;Notes

;Bibliography

King, Jeffrey, "The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd" Atlas Books, 1998; ISBN 0-87338-582-9

Further reading

Time, 22 October 1934

"Sister of infamous gunslinger 'Pretty Boy Floyd' recalls a kindly brother," Associated Press; May 14, 2002

McMurtry, Larry and Ossana, Diana , "Pretty Boy Floyd," Simon & Schuster; ISBN 0-671-89167-7

Michael Wallis, "Pretty Boy, the Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd" St. Martin's Press, New York, 1992; ISBN 0-312-07071-3

Merle Clayton Union Station Massacre 1975 BM Bobbs Merrill ISBN 0-672-51899-6

External links

Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd: Public Enemy No. 1

Kansas City Massacre FBI History

Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie pages, which in turn rely on the liner notes for Bobby Barnett, ''American Heroes & Western Legends,'' Bear Family Records (BCD 16 121 AH), 1997

Sturgis House, East Liverpool, Ohio

Shootout in Bixby

Legendary Lawman Killed By Pretty Boy Floyd

Task Force led by Sheriff Kelly

Legendary Sheriff Tracks Down Pretty Boy Floyd, But Killed During Shootout

Death of Pretty Boy Floyd

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Floyd, Charles Arthur

Category:1904 births Category:1934 deaths Category:People from Bartow County, Georgia Category:American bank robbers Category:Depression-era gangsters Category:People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Category:Deaths by firearm in Ohio Category:Joan Baez songs Category:Woody Guthrie songs Category:Articles containing video clips

ca:Pretty Boy Floyd it:Charles Arthur Floyd sv:Pretty Boy Floyd