Robin Williams included a clause in his contracts confirming that his empathy had no limits

If making several generations laugh through his films were not enough to explain the special memory, adorned with affection and longing, that he maintains popular memory about the figure of Robin Williams, it turns out that there are more reasons that justify it. “My real job is to help people,” he once told a cancer patient named David Buist, whom the actor frequently called to encourage him during the year of his treatment (cnn). A phrase of solidarity that defines in a few words one of the exemplary tasks that he carried out from the heart of Hollywood, without asking for any recognition.

The interpreter of Jumanji and Potato forever He was always a charitable and supportive figure, however, knew how to apply his personal mission within the industry itself, demanding it by contract.

The empathy of the actor from the heart of Hollywood

Robin Williamswhose death by suicide on August 11, 2014 at the age of 63 still resonates in the world’s memory, used his fame and success to make a difference in the lives of others whenever he could. And a clear example of this is that he demanded a clause from the studios that required them to hire and employ a certain number of homeless people in their films.

This was revealed by an events agent named Brian Lord a few years ago, telling the world the demand he had Robin Williams in their contracts (via Joe). Lord was apparently negotiating the actor’s contract for an event when he came across the clause in the contract he was given. “He had a requirement that for every event or movie he did, the company that hired him also had to hire a number of homeless people and put them to work,” the agent explained. “I never looked at a Robin Williams movie the same way after that.”And I admit that I don’t either.

Williams’ request is known as a ‘rider’, and it’s basically a contractual inclusion that an actor or filmmaker can request, to ask for or demand a certain level of diversity or equality in a production, both in the cast and the technical team. For example, gender equality, racial diversity, disability diversity, etc. Perhaps the word sounds familiar to you because Frances McDormand popularized it by asking for an inclusion of equality in the industry at the end of her Oscar speech in 2018 after winning the statuette for best actress. The difference is that Robin Williams demanded it to help another type of excluded minority with fewer resources..

Upon hearing the anecdote, I set out to look for more information, coming across photographs of the actor with homeless people and more stories of his charitable work behind the cameras.

“I’m sure in his spare time and with his own money, he was working with these people in need, but he also decided to use his influence as an entertainer to make sure that production companies and event planners also learned the value of giving people a chance to get back to work,” Brian Lord added at the time (via Lad Bible).

Helping the homeless was one of his missions in life, even giving testimony in the Senate asking for help from the US government along with Whoopi Goldberg. It was in 1990 when the actor turned to his sense of humor and ability to recreate voices, and ask the senators to find a way to find a middle ground, between the budget and the desire to help, to find a solution together.

His own daughter Zelda confirmed her father’s passion for helping the homeless on X (formerly Twitter). In 2020, the young woman donated $69.69 to all the shelters she could in honor of what would have been Robin’s 69th birthday. She posted it on the same social network and asked that those who could do the same in honor of her father.

As he wrote shortly afterwards, several shelters had written to him to thank him for the public request, since his tweet had attracted the solidarity of many. ““I can’t tell you how deeply this would have moved Dad,” she wrote (via Lad Bible)https://twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/1285989010439987200 “He loved the homeless, he spent much of his life trying to help them, to encourage them, to see that they were treated with dignity instead of disdain. Thank you for doing this on his behalf. Thank you for keeping his kindness alive.”

Robin Williams’ personal mission

The truth is that, beyond the person who knew how to steal a smile from us with his characters, jokes, witticisms and that natural sympathy that crossed the screen, Williams used his fame to do good whenever he could.

For more than 12 years he made American troops laugh, traveling to soldiers in conflict zones, listening to them, talking to them about his recovery through AA from the alcoholism he suffered for several years, and putting on his own show to make them forget about the mission for a while. “His generosity of spirit was as limitless as his comedy,” said comedian Lewis Black who also used to make the same trips visiting soldiers at CBS.

We could say that Robin Williams was a doctor who was an expert in healing with a smile.. And not only for his work in Patch Adams, the movie about the medical student who spread joy to sick children, but because he also did it in real life. From the feature films that continue to accompany us and bring a smile whenever necessary, to the influence that he had on everyone he helped in life. Because in addition to the homeless people with whom he shared his success or the troops he cheered at certain times, he was also a particular Patch Adams.

There are many stories about patients and people he helped and accompanied in their personal battles. Like little Jessica, a 13-year-old girl, a fan of Potato forever, who suffered from a brain tumor and whose wish was to meet the actor. Her parents made the request through the Make a Wish Foundation and since the little girl could not travel due to her fragile condition, Williams rented a private plane and went to see her. “It must have cost him about $30,000 or $40,000,” His father Mark Cole told cnn.

Williams spent the day with her, imitating the character from the film, playing cards and watching television with her. “It was the most emotional thing I have ever seen in my life,” added her father, seeing his daughter happy that day. Jessica died two weeks later.

“My real job is to help people,” Robin Williams once said. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

According to a pediatrician named Carrie Chen, the actor used to visit children at San Francisco General Hospital every Christmas Day. “Nobody knew, he just came.”, said to USA Today in 2014. She herself witnessed Christmas 1998 when the actor arrived with bags full of a new Nintendo video game. “I think he really wanted to do good. He didn’t care about the publicity. Nobody knew he was there, he just walked in. He wanted to come and give those kids a Christmas present.”

In addition, the actor also collaborated with the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, volunteering for free to star in the organization’s commercials and campaigns for a decade. He served on the board of his friend’s foundation Christopher Reeve dedicated to finding solutions to paralysis caused by spinal cord injuries, while also founding her own charity, The Windfall Foundation, through which she organized various philanthropic events to raise money for charitable organizations.

In short, I have no doubt that all this reflects that Robin Williams’ empathy knew no bounds.

This article was written exclusively for Yahoo en Español by Cine54.