-
(applause)
-
(Letterman) Thank you,
I guess a lot of us,
-
most of us, have been
thinking about Robin Williams.
-
I believe we found out a week ago
that he had died.
-
Many things come to mind
in a situation like this,
-
and, of course, more questions are
raised than can possibly be answered,
-
but I started reflecting about it.
-
I knew Robin Williams for 38 years.
-
38 years, which, in and of itself,
is crazy how time...
-
(applause)
-
And I met him at The Comedy Store.
-
He and I were kids, along with myself
and Jay Leno, and Tom Dreesen
-
and Tim Thomerson, and Johnny Dark,
and Elayne Boosler,
-
and on and on, and Jimmy Walker.
And we were all out there
-
at The Comedy Store and we wanted
to make people laugh.
-
We wanted to get on the Tonight show,
we wanted something because
-
we all felt that we were funny.
-
In those days, we were working
for free drinks--
-
some were working
for more free drinks than others.
-
(laughter)
-
So you would go on stage,
and then you would do your little skits,
-
and then you would come off stage,
and if there was a new guy
-
coming on, you'd want to stick around
and make fun of the new guy.
-
(man) Sure.
-
Because we were all worried
that somebody else is coming in
-
who's really funny, and then we'll have
to go back, in my case, to Indiana.
-
- Yes.
- (laughter)
-
And I can remember the night
my friend George Miller
-
and I, who was a very funny comic,
and was on this show many times,
-
we were at The Comedy Store
and they introduced Robin Williams.
-
And, for some reason,
in the beginning he was
-
introduced as being from Scotland.
They said he was Scottish.
-
So now we're stumped.
We don't know.
-
There's a Scottish guy, really,
coming to the United States?
-
So we were feeling pretty smug
about our position right away
-
because it's gonna be haggis
and that kind of crap.
-
(laughter)
-
So we're relaxed.
We're ready to go.
-
And, all of a sudden,
he comes up on stage
-
and you know what it is.
It's like nothing we had
-
ever seen before.
Nothing we had ever imagined before.
-
We'd go home at night and are writing
our little jokes about stuff,
-
and this guy comes in
and we're like morning dew.
-
- He comes in like a hurricane.
- Yeah.
-
And now the longer he was on stage,
the worse we feel about ourselves.
-
(laughter)
-
And because it's not stopping!
-
And then he finishes and I thought,
"Well, that's it. They're gonna have
-
to put an end to show business
because what could happen after this?"
-
And then we get to see this
night after night after night,
-
and we didn't approach him
because we were afraid of him.
-
Honest to God.
You though, "Holy crap!
-
There goes my chance at show business
because of this guy from Scotland."
-
(laughter)
-
And then, like shot out of a cannon,
he goes and he's on the Happy Day's show.
-
And then from the Happy Day's show,
he gets to be on Mork and Mindy.
-
Now there's some structure to his life.
-
He's not at The Comedy Store every night
because he's got an actual job.
-
(laughter)
-
So the rest of us can pretend
that it never happened.
-
(laughter)
-
But, yet then, he goes from Mork and Mindy,
and then he starts making movie
-
after movie after movie.
-
He's nominated four times
for an Academy Award.
-
And it wasn't really until Paul and I
started the NBC version of this show,
-
which, by the way,
is still running in Mexico--
-
- It is.
- (laughter)
-
Very popular.
-
(applause)
-
But it wasn't until then that I
got to really know Robin Williams
-
because he would come on
to promote movies,
-
or concerts or whatever
he was talking about,
-
and he was always so gracious,
and we would talk about the old times.
-
Never did he act like,
"Oh, I knew you guys were scared
-
because I was so good."
-
And it was just a pleasure to know the guy.
-
And he was a gentleman and delightful,
and even in the old days,
-
he was kind enough to ask me
to appear on his Mork and Mindy show.
-
Now this is a double edged sword.
-
(laughter)
-
Because he did it only
because he was trying
-
to help other fledgling,
starting out comics.
-
- Makes sense.
- Right.
-
The other side of the sword is I have
no business being on that show.
-
I can't...I have no business
being on this show.
-
(laughter and applause)
-
But he gave me a job!
-
In those days,
jobs were hard to come by,
-
and there I was, and I
was on Mork and Mindy,
-
and I can remember between
the dress rehearsal
-
and the actual taping of the show,
the director of the program,
-
- Howard...Howard...Howard Shore--
- Howard Storm.
-
Storm. Howard Storm comes up to me
and he says, "Well, you've been trying
-
all week, so this is your last chance."
-
- (laughter)
- Oh.
-
So even to the detriment of the show,
Robin was kind enough to invite
-
me to come on because he thought,
"Why can't I spread this around
-
and have some of my friends
share in my success?"
-
Which is exactly what he did.
-
He then was on our show,
this show and the old show,
-
- a total of merely 50 times.
- A total of 50 times?
-
- 50 times. 50 times.
- (applause)
-
And two things would happen
because Robin was on the program.
-
- One: I didn't have to do anything.
- Yes.
-
(laughter)
-
All I had to do was sit here
and watch the machine.
-
Yeah.
-
And two: People would watch.
If they know Robin was on the show,
-
the viewership would go up
because they wanted to see Robin.
-
And, believe me, that wasn't
just true of television.
-
I believe that was true
of the kind of guy he was.
-
People were drawn to him
because of this electricity.
-
Whatever it was he radiated,
that propelled him and powered him.
-
And then he came back
after my heart surgery,
-
Robin was nice enough
to come on that night
-
and it was very, very funny
and very, very appropriate.
-
And here is a picture
that I will now cherish,
-
even more than I had previously.
-
- There are four people right there.
- Wow.
-
Two of which wildly funny,
insanely funny. Two are not.
-
(laughter and applause)
-
(Letterman) The handsome woman
there is Mitzi Shore.
-
She owned The Comedy Store.
-
We all, the three of us, worked there.
-
I think Robin and I, it'd be
safe to say,we started there.
-
Richard Prior was already Richard Prior,
but he would work there
-
and the guy in the middle,
I trimmed hedges.
-
(laughter)
-
- So we would like to--
- (applause)
-
We put together a segment
of Robin William's appearances,
-
and moreover, more than anything,
it will make you laugh
-
and, really, that's what we
should take from this.
-
He could make you laugh
under any circumstances.
-
- Here he is on our show.
- (applause)
-
It's from the Gandhi on Ice collection!
-
(laughter)
-
Oh, god, how you doin', Mr. Williams?
-
God, Mrs. Doubtfire is very funny.
-
You know, you're much more attractive
as an older woman.
-
(laughter)
-
- (Letterman) Hold 'em! Hold 'em!
- Okay, I got 'em. I GOT 'EM!
-
- Alright!
- (Williams) TAKE IT EASY, DAMMIT!
-
- Our next--
- It's my first day on the job!
-
Aren't you glad you didn't
see this in the surgery?
-
- "Hey, Dave! It's me!"
- (laughter)
-
- Take it's gonna be real funny.
- (laughter)
-
Well, you had a television show,
Mork and Mindy.
-
- Nice.
- And the producers,
-
for some unknown reason,
invited me for a little thing on the show.
-
- That's right! You played a--
- I've never seen anything.
-
I'm not bringing myself
to watch it until tonight.
-
- You have it here?!
- (laughter and cheering)
-
Somebody has stolen my Rolls-Royce!
-
Well, don't worry, Ellsworth.
Losing your Rolls-Royce is a concept.
-
- Getting it back is a reality.
- (laughter)
-
It's amazing when you win the Academy Award,
you have about a week
-
where everyone's like,
"Hey, Good Will Hunting! Way to go.
-
Good Will Hunting,
Academy Award. Way to go."
-
And two weeks later, it's like,
"Hey, Mork! How are ya'?"
-
(laughter)
-
(reflective music)
-
(applause)
-
God bless you, my friend!
-
(reflective music)
-
(applause)
-
Oh my, that's...
-
well...
-
What I will add here is
beyond being a very talented man,
-
and a good friend,
and a gentleman,
-
I am sorry, like everybody else,
I had no idea that the man
-
was in pain, that the man was suffering.
-
But what a guy.
Robin Williams.
-
- We'll be right back, ladies and gentlemen.
- (applause)