Robin Williams and Christopher Reeves?
Yes. This picture was actually taken in 1981 where they were hailing a taxi in New York City. But they first met (and became roommates) in college in 1973 where they both attended the Julliard School. It's such a sad ending for both. They had such wonderful lives and careers. But the final years for Reeve and the final days for Williams were so bleak. I remember Reeves post-accident where he said in a print interview that he reserved a few minutes every morning after he woke up...to cry for a while.
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'Closer than brothers': Robin Williams' extraordinary friendship with Christopher Reeve
By David Mccormack for MailOnline
Published: 09:45 EST, 12 August 2014 | Updated: 16:40 EST, 12 August 2014
One of the finest eulogies for Robin Williams was written years before his untimely death by one of his closest friends, fellow actor Christopher Reeve.
In 1995, Superman star Reeve was facing a life or death situation as he prepared to undergo an operation at the University of Virginia Medical Center to reattach his skull to his spine following a devastating horse-riding accident.
With his chances of survival rated just 50/50, Reeve later told Barbara Walters that he ‘wanted to die’ until his despair was lifted by an unexpected visit from his old friend Williams.
In his 1996 autobiography Still Me, Reeve recalls how Williams showed up at the hospital pretending to be an eccentric Russian proctologist who was going to perform a rectal exam on him.
‘I lay on my back, frozen, unable to avoid thinking the darkest thoughts,’ wrote Reeve.
‘Then, at an especially bleak moment, the door flew open and in hurried a squat fellow with a blue scrub hat and a yellow surgical gown and glasses, speaking in a Russian accent. He announced that he was my proctologist and that he had to examine me immediately.
‘My first reaction was that either I was on way too many drugs or I was in fact brain damaged,’ wrote Reeve.
‘For the first time since the accident, I laughed. My old friend had helped me know that somehow I was going to be okay.’
By then the pair were indeed old friends, having first met more than 20 years before as roommates at the prestigious Julliard School in New York City.
In 1973 the budding actors were the only two students accepted to the advanced program at the school. In several classes they were the only students.
Williams was also the first student that Reeve met at university and he recalls watching Williams 'in awe as he virtually caromed off the walls of the classrooms and hallways.'
Their strong bond lasted way beyond college as their respective careers took off in the late 70s, with Williams enjoying massive television success in Mork and Mindy and Reeve staring in the 1978 blockbuster Superman.
During a Reddit AMA last year, [in 2013] Williams recalled his favorite memories of Reeve.
‘Him being such a great friend to me at Juillard, literally feeding me because I don't think I literally had money for food or my student loan hadn't come in yet, and he would share his food with me,' he wrote.
'And then later after the accident, just seeing him beaming and just, seeing what he meant to so many people.’
Reeve’s widow Dana once described the pair as being ‘closer than brothers’ and it was rumored that Williams had helped pay for Reeves’ treatment following his accident.
He also became actively involved in Reeve's foundation, The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.
Reeve died in 2004 after a cardiac arrest.'
‘The world has lost a tremendous activist and artist, and an inspiration for people worldwide. I have lost a great friend,’ said Williams after his friend passed away.
The next year Williams dedicated his Cecil B. Demille Award at the Golden Globes to his old friend.
'Miss you. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,' he said.
For his dedication and support as an advocate for the Reeve Foundation, the charity honored him in 2007 at a gala in Los Angeles.
After the announcement of Williams’ suicide on Monday, the charity posted a tribute to him on its website.
‘While the world knew Robin Williams as an Oscar-winning actor, we knew a different side to the man whose smile was as big as his heart.
'While our hearts ache with the loss of our friend, it is unlikely Robin would want us to mourn his passing with silence, but to celebrate his life through laughter.
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'Together, let's remember Robin for the man who made the world laugh.'
* One of the most treasured relationships of Robin Williams' life was his enduring friendship with fellow actor Christopher Reeve
The pair met in 1973 as roommates at the Julliard School in New York City
* Their careers later took off at the same time in the late 1970s - Williams in Mork And Mindy and Reeve in Superman
* After his paralyzing horse-riding accident in 1995, Reeve revealed that his spirits were lifted after his old friend paid him a surprise visit
* Williams showed up at his hospital pretending to be an eccentric Russian proctologist who was going to perform a rectal exam on him
* 'My old friend had helped me know that somehow I was going to be okay,' wrote Reeve in his autobiography
* After Reeve's death in 2004, Williams dedicated his Cecil B. Demille Award at the Golden Globes to him
Source:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ollywood-highs-helping-save-friends-life.html
