Robin Williams during two of his numerous appearances on the children’s show Sesame Street.
Robin Williams wore a lot of hats — and one time, for a few hours, a clown nose.
He could be manically funny, like he was with Johnny Carson or in Good Morning Vietnam. Sometimes he was a total creeper — see Insomnia or One Hour Photo. And occasionally he took a turn as a sage mentor, as we all know from Dead Poets' Society and Good Will Hunting.
But one Robin you may not have known was the gentle educator. It was a side of him his kids probably saw a lot of, but the rest of us only could only glimpse it during his many visits to Sesame Street.
Beginning in 1990, Robin would drop by, hang out with Elmo, and teach us a thing or two. It's fun to watch him try to figure out whether his shoe is alive or tell the Two-Headed Monster about the nature of conflict. But it's also really heart-warming to see him cater to kids while just being himself — albeit a slightly more family friendly version.
No Mrs. Doubtfire prosthetics, no Jumanji visual effects, no flying around as Peter Pan; just Robin and a few of our favorite friends. It's another reminder that we didn't just lose one of our best actors or comedians this week — we lost a national treasure.
Here are some of our favorite moments with Robin:
What's alive? (1990)
What can you do with a stick? (1991)
On being inclusive with our national pastime (1991)
Monster in the mirror (1991)
On being similar and different (1993)
Conflict (2012)
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