20 Times Robin Williams Broke People On Set

Robin Williams was the crown prince of laughter, and he knew how to make audiences fall apart with his quick-witted, lightning-fast ability to riff on the human condition. Whether it was onstage performing stand-up, voicing a character like the Genie in "Aladdin," or on a movie screen himself pretending to be a British nanny, he always left them rolling in the aisle and begging for more.

His co-stars definitely weren't immune to the power of his talents. Robin had the ability to make even the most stolid, stalwart actors break character and laugh, especially when they were trying to convey serious emotions or play a scene that required them to be sad, distressed or even scared. Whether he was pretending to be a president, indulging in a bit of improv, or even trying to get Frank Sinatra to crack a grin, here are 20 different times Robin Williams went unscripted and managed to make his co-stars burst into gales of giggles.

Before he really broke through as the star of "Mork and Mindy," Robin Williams cut his teeth as an improvisational comic. He practiced his craft at New York's Julliard school and on the street as a mime — and eventually on the small screen as one of the regular players in "The New Laugh-In Show," which launched back in 1977. Though the series would ultimately be short-lived, it was a great place for Williams to polish up his comedic chops for the world stage — and it even allowed him to break up stern Rat Pack leader and music legend Frank Sinatra.

The actor barely manages to get four words into his impression of a redneck expressing his admiration for the art of Old Blue Eyes before Sinatra loses it laughing. He continues to giggle and keeps on laughing until Williams leaves the scene. That's just a tiny hint as to how powerful Robin Williams' gift was — and how special his work would turn out to be.

Robin Williams was the king of improvisation, as appearences on shows like "Whose Line is it Anyway?" prove. He didn't often allow other members of the audience to come up on stage and act out scenarios with him, but he made an exception for a fellow sitcom legend while taping his first HBO stand-up special, "Off the Wall." The legend in question? The late John Ritter.

The duo immediately trade rapid-fire one-liners, which culminates in a scene reset mid-improv. "Robin, I was just out there enjoying some Perrier water and laughing my a** off, now I'm up here and I'm wet," Ritter mock-complains as they reset the routine. Williams then strikes an expression of feigned erotic joy. "I guess you're ready then!" he says. The ribald one-liner immediately causes Ritter to let out a big belly laugh, before he gets up and kicks the cowboy hat he's wearing as part of the improvisation over his head with the heel of his boot.

"Mork and Mindy" was Robin Williams' first big stage, and he took full advantage of it to channel all of his manic energy into the alien presence of Mork from Ork. Freely improvising, he created moments of brilliance — and required his co-stars to stay on their tiptoes at all times. Pam Dawber, who played Mork's human main squeeze Mindy, often found herself in a duel of wits with Williams, which naturally resulted in her breaking up while trying to keep up with him. 

A prime example of this exists in the long blooper above, where Williams makes Dawber crack up repeatedly as he forgets his lines, improvises business, and ultimately causes multiple take resets to occur. Williams is eventually forced to tell Dawber, "It's like you're waiting for me to say something!" while she laughs helplessly.

A bluer example of Robin Williams and Pam Dawber's dynamic can be seen in the above blooper, where Williams asks Dawber in a caveman voice, "Why did you laugh at me?" "Because you were going to say 'what an a******!'" Dawber replies. Williams reacts in shock and demurs that he wasn't — because he got her to say it first. The pair break each other up. 

A further extension of the blooper sees Williams defend his reaction to their director. "I didn't do it," Williams protests out loud. "She fell into the caca trap!" The director eventually resurfaces to laugh along with Dawber and Williams on the set — and even walks on set through the prop door while trying to reset the scene after being jokingly dismissed by Williams. It's a great example of how loose, freewheeling and fun the "Mork and Mindy" set could be — and why it worked so well as a playground for Williams.

"Mrs. Doubtfire" is a huge showcase for Robin Williams' improvisational talents. He seemed to have so much fun creating his nanny character and building her up as a realistic person, and the film allowed him to play around until he got the right take. While many scenes were cut from "Mrs. Doubtfire," one cardinal example of Williams' approach features his character, Daniel Hillard, trying out a variety of disguises, with the makeup appliances provided by his brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein).

In the above clip, Williams impersonates the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz," asking about ruby slippers and calling Fierstein "Dorothy." Theatre veteran Fierstein clearly had fun bouncing off Williams' improvisations — and finally cracks up offscreen when Williams comes up with the line, "Please help, it's been four weeks since I used a wand."

Phil Hartman was the steady, even-tempered glue that held "Saturday Night Live" together during his long reign as a performer there. It was rare that he ever cracked up while performing in the show's sketches. But when appearing with Williams in a "Master Thespian" sketch, Williams manages to tickle Hartman's funnybone and scare a smile out of his usually unflappable countenance. 

In the scene, Williams is a fussy and dramatic director and Hartman his erstwhile supporting player, Godfrey. Williams instructs Hartman's character to deliver the "declaration of war" papers. Hartman corrects Williams — "The armistice papers." "That's right," Williams agrees. "That's right, sorry, forgive me." Then in a more strident tone, he adds, "Oh, pardon me!" He then snaps his fingers and shouts, "Continuity!" His dramatic reaction scares a laugh out of Hartman, who not only grins but chortles. He manages to make it part of his smug character, but it's hard to deny that Williams is the reason for his laughter.

The original version of "Jumanji" allowed Robin Williams to play a boy grown to manhood within the insular world of the game. Alan is trying to adjust to life in the real world again — and finishing the dangerous and possibly life-threatening game he began when he was a child. The bloopers from the film share Williams' free spirit — and one actor in particular, Bonnie Hunt, keeps cracking up thanks to his silliness.

"Is this the film you want," he says in a weird voice, just before action is called. "Is this the film you crave?" Then he snaps back into his regular demeanor, waves at the camera, and says, "I'd like to say hi to all the folks at Sony," then goes back to his impression to add, "Or Sony!" Hunt immediately cracks up at his choice of voice and giggles until the scene is cut.

One of the more famous bloopers that "Jumanji" ever gave the world was the one featuring Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt trying to wax dramatic while Alan is made part of the house's floorboards. In the movie it's a serious incident which cements their character's romantic feelings. In the blooper world, however, it's another way for Williams to get Hunt to break down laughing.

"I heard voices," Hunt says, quoting the script. "It's okay, I just farted," Williams informs her. Hunt chortles. "Let's do that one again," Williams whispers. "The farting part?" Hunt asks, giving back as good as she gets. 

Robin Williams won an Oscar for his role as the patient but grieving therapist in "Good Will Hunting," and while much of the film doesn't allow him to spread his improvisational wings, one scene was apparently completely made up on the spot by the actor — and genuinely cracked up Matt Damon in the process.

It's the monologue in which Sean Maguire (Williams) tells Will Hunting (Damon) that his wife used to fart when she was nervous. It turns into a long story which not only genuinely makes Damon giggle, it makes the cameraman laugh. Watch closely next time you see the scene and notice that the field of vision wobbles slightly as the humor ramps up and Williams goes for broke. 

Ben Affleck and Damon later admitted on a DVD commentary that Williams' improvisation caused Damon to express real emotions. Only a mega-talented comic could have everyone in stitches — and do such a good job blending this sort of story into his character.

"Patch Adams" may be best known as a tearjerker which is designed to make audience members weep at the highly fictionalized life of the real Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams, but behind the scenes Robin Williams was a fearless cut-up who managed to make his costars giggle between the broad brush strokes of pathos. 

In the above blooper, Williams, as Patch, is attending an autopsy with other medical students. Monica Potter and Daniel London act nervously as the camera presses in — and Williams breaks the tension by feigning a fart. "Stop!" London begs Williams, who hugs him as everyone else in the scene also breaks. Williams continues his shtick, playing with the fake corpse until Potter finds the fart machine he's tucked under the autopsy table. He eventually swipes a skeleton and impersonates Sammy Davis Jr. before getting serious — just before the overhead lights go off.

"Death to Smoochy" is a cardinal example of Robin Williams' affinity for dark humor. The movie has become something of a cult black comedy classic, with Williams playing the manic, jealous children's entertainer Rainbow Randolph.

Randolph's manic energy matches that of Williams, and even the outtakes from the movie reflect that feeling. He slides down a brick wall and shouts aloud his merriment, then crawls close to the camera. "Death to Smoochy!" he says, then waggles his tongue into the lens. That's enough to get break up the whole crew — not to mention himself.

Robin Williams projected gentle dignity and effervescent American spirit while playing Teddy Roosevelt in the "Night at the Museum" series of films. His impression of Roosevelt also packed in plenty of humor — as evinced by this blooper from the first film, which sees Williams accidentally split his pants while getting off a horse. 

He manages to hold it together even though the rip's quite audible on the clip's audio. He and Ben Stiller proceed to proceed with the scene. But he finally calls a halt to the take and admits he split his pants, causing Stiller to break up laughing as he does.

Robin Williams didn't just make his co-stars laugh by mistake — he sometimes intentionally let a film's dialogue do all the talking. In the above "Night at the Museum" blooper, Teddy Roosevelt explains that his relationship with Sacagawea (Mizuo Peck) is strictly professional: "We're just two buddies with a fondness for beavers." 

The double-entendre is not lost on Ben Stiller, who manages to turn away from Williams and deliver half of his next line ("of course") and walk a few steps to continue the scene before collapsing into laughter. Stiller turns back and looks at Williams, who continues to giggle at his own delivery. 

"RV" isn't well-remembered in Robin Williams' late-career oeuvre, probably because it was just one of the many big-budget family-friendly flops Williams performed in that ended up leaving audiences shrugging. But the film still managed to spawn a memorable blooper reel, in which Williams cracks up at the foibles of the cast and they giggle at his improvised antics.

In the above blooper, Williams makes Cheryl Hines laugh by impersonating a masseuse. "This is what I call deep acupuncture, a happy massage, yes," he remarks as he kneads away at Hines' muscles, making her laugh at his tomfoolery. 

In "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," Robin Williams returns to play Teddy Roosevelt in both bust form and as the wax statue whom Larry (Ben Stiller) knows so well. But it was a simple interaction between Larry and Teddy that got Stiller giggling one day to the point of ruining a take.

"Remember you said something last night about the secret to happiness?" Larry asks Teddy, with Stiller already cracking up. Stiller pulls it together and the exchange makes it through a few more lines, but whenever he tries to ask Teddy what the secret of happiness is, he falls apart laughing. The pair ultimately get it together and manage to deliver one of the most touching moments in the whole "Night at the Museum" series, but their half-baked attempts at getting there are great, too.

"Old Dogs" may have gotten a major critical drubbing when it was released, but its blooper reel is still filled with the simple joy of watching Robin Williams and John Travolta interacting with one another. The film legends play off each other with ease, which may be the movie's biggest (and only) virtue. It also resulted in a blooper reel filled with moments like the one linked above, in which Williams cracks Travolta up with a simple smart remark.

"You're not the boss of me!" Travolta declares with disgust, taking a drink of coffee. "That was very adult," retorts Williams. Travolta immediately starts laughing, nearly choking on his drink in the process. That's all it takes to get the rest of the crew going as Travolta breaks up.

"The Crazy Ones" was the final TV show Robin Williams appeared in before he died, and every single episode of the series ended with a blooper reel showing off some funny flubs or screw-ups that occurred while filming that particular outing. 

In the pilot, Simon (Robin Williams) must charm Kelly Clarkson into recording a jingle for McDonald's. Williams and James Wolk, who played Zach in the show, apparently improvised the entire song they performed for Clarkson, who barely holds it together during the take before finally cracking when Williams sings, "You didn't give me enough ketchup packets" while making an exploding noise. "Money shot, money shot!" he chants.

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Robin Williams developed a natural rapport as they played father and daughter on "The Crazy Ones." She, naturally, wasn't immune to Williams' tendency to riff and make off-the-cuff jokes. 

"You can do it, Dorothy — a girl with a good pair of shoes can go a long way," Williams says in the above clip. Gellar is already giggling when the take begins, and when Williams begins his Glinda the Good Witch impression she desperately tries to suppress her laughter. "We put every metaphor we could in everything we try," Williams continues. Then after another cut: "How long can we make this riff go? Til the end of time!" 

Gellar continues to crack up as the camera cuts away, and with his wicked ways, Williams definitely isn't helping her tamp her giggles down at all.

A funny voice could always help Williams crack up those he shared a screen with, and in this case putting on Sarah Michelle Gellar while impersonating a hair stylist did the trick. "You look pretty," he declares, fussing over Gellar. She makes demurring sounds but he continues, "You honestly do, you look fabulous! Don't lie to yourself, you're a knockout. You really are!" Gellar laughs. "You look pretty, you look pretty!" he says. 

But she cannot get her next line out. She takes a deep breath and gets serious. "I will do this," she vows. Only she can't because when she looks at him, she cracks right up. Williams does not help her by simply behaving like himself, allowing the mountain of giggles to build until the director needs to cut. 

It's fitting to end this collection of bloopers by bringing things full circle, with Pam Dawber and Robin Williams making each other laugh years after "Mork and Mindy" ended. 

The incident in question is simple — just Williams forgetting to knock first before Dawber opens the door — but it makes her laugh just like she did back in the 1970s. It's especially poignant because Dawber has outlived Williams to become the last main cast member still alive from "Mork and Mindy."