Robin F. Williams

Heroes mean different things to different people. For instance, one person could idolize someone and want to be just like him. Another person could view someone as a hero just because he respects that individual. Furthermore, some choose as their heroes people they want to be like because they have a great job and life, in general. I don’t idolize anyone, but I do respect many people. My hero, though, is someone who had a rough start in the beginning of his life yet turned his destiny around. My hero is Robin Williams.

Robin Williams was born July 21, 1951, in Chicago. He was named from the show "Robin and the River." He also had two half-brothers, one for each of his parents' last marriages. He wasn’t raised with these siblings, however. He actually didn’t even meet them until he was 10 years old. Todd Williams, who is 13 years older than Robin, is a wine maker now in Sonoma County, California. McLaurin Smith-Williams, who is only four years older, teaches physics in Memphis.

Being an only child for a while, though, wasn’t of great significance to Robin. Instead, one of his first challenges was school. Because of his parents’ jobs, he had to relocate quite a lot. One year, for example, he had to move to a total of six different schools. This didn’t just happen in elementary and middle school, either. He had to pick up roots during his senior year, also. This was the year in which he truly opened up. Actually, he came out of his shell, so much so that he was voted "Most Humorous" and "Least Likely to Succeed."

Following his school years, Robin faced his second challenge and probably the hardest---a drug abuse problem. At one period, he was going to two or three clubs a night. Hollywood made things even worse. It has been said that there was open drug use on the sets. Few acknowledged this, though, until John Belushi died of an overdose of cocaine mixed with heroin. He was a friend of Robin’s. In fact, Robin had actually visited Belushi the night before he died. Williams said, “I was there for ten minutes and split. There was no great, wild madness. Nothing there.” Because of the impact of Belushi’s death, though, Robin moved with his wife to a 600-acre ranch where he made his slow recovery from his drug addiction. Robin claims that what helped him most, however, was the fact that he was going to be father, and he didn’t want to be a poor role model.

Obviously, Robin Williams was determined to overcome some tough obstacles. It seems that he can overcome any problem put in front of him no matter how difficult it may seem to be. He has shown that he can and did achieve a great life. I’ve learned from researching about Robin that if I ever have a problem, I will think about what he would do and try to emulate that. He is a terrific actor, comedian, and person, and he is my hero!