Robin McLaurin Williams
Born: July 21, 1951 in Chicago.
Died: Aug. 11, 2014 in Tiburon, CA.
Cause of death: Suicide

Stand-up comedian Robin Williams first shot to fame in 1978 as the “nano nano” spouting alien on the Happy Days’ sitcom spin-off, Mork & Mindy, before making the leap to movies with 1980’s Popeye. That was followed by a string of critically acclaimed roles in everything from family-fare like Hook, Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire, to more adult offerings like The Fisher King, Awakenings, One Hour Photo and The Birdcage. But he’s perhaps best known for his role as wise-cracking Army DJ Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning Vietnam and beloved high school instructor John Keating in Dead Poets Society, the two roles for which he won Best Actor Oscars.