ROBIN WILLIAMS

Century Plaza Hotel

Century City, CA

November 16, 2000

Photo credit: Robin Williams

I was still a little gun-shy. Shaken by the experience I’d had minutes earlier after meeting Muhammad Ali, in which a mean, blonde woman told me to put my camera away. But I got a rush of bravery and a trigger-happy finger when I walked into this event’s VIP reception. I saw so many recognizable faces. Blondie was now a distant memory and I was back in business.

There were incredibly famous people everywhere so I had to strategize. I could move from left to right and approach celebrities based on proximity or I could hunt and peck. No time for planning. At this particular moment, the choice was clearly between Billy Crystal and Robin Williams.

I had to move fast, but how the heck was I supposed to make that choice without some deep consideration? I am too young to have enjoyed watching Soap but I watched every episode of Mork & Mindy, and I am the only person I know who cried during Mrs. Doubtfire. That’s as much time as I could spend in contemplation so my ten-year-old self made the decision: Robin Williams. He had platinum blond hair on this night which I found later was likely because he was filming the movie One Hour Photo.

I had to wait patiently for the right time to move in. From where I was standing, it looked like an uncharacteristically subdued Mr. Williams was in the midst of polite conversation with some people who seemed rather hoity-toity. I held back until I could have him all to myself.

When the group broke up I was in his sightline. He politely said, “Hello.” I smiled and said hi then I took a step closer. “Can you do me a favor?” I asked. That was all I had to say to break the lofty mood. There was a new energy in the air, he was on and the genie was out of the bottle.

I pitched my idea and his eyes lit up. “Yes!” he said. He took my camera and jumped right into character. “Now work with me.” He led the way like a flamboyant fashion photographer on speed. “Give me what you’ve got. Work those hands.” I struck a pose that was obviously way under par. He moved the camera away from his face and gave me some very professional, Birdcage-esque direction. “More like this,” he said as he flung his hands into the air. I mimicked what he did. He seemed pleased and quickly pulled the camera to his eye. He didn’t want to miss the moment. “Good! Good! Good!” he cheered.

A friendly woman saw what we were doing and offered to take a photo of us so what the heck, we let her. We posed for our souvenir photo then, after three solid minutes of one-on-one time with the truly zany Robin Williams, I got my camera back, thanked him and we went our separate ways back into the star-studded crowd.

How generous of him to unleash his million-dollar personality and play with me. Unfortunately, I missed my chance with Billy Crystal but the night was still young. It was clear that, at this party, there were going to be superstars around every corner so I had to keep my eyes peeled and my camera close. (Try to stop me, Blondie!)

Photo credit: A friendly woman