Robin

New York Times reporter Itzkoff delivers a detailed and revealing biography of comedian and actor Robin Williams. Born to a Ford Motor Company executive and his socialite wife, Williams grew up comfortably in Detroit and later San Francisco, where he discovered acting. He studied in New York at Juilliard and then went on to find fame at the age of 27 in the TV series Mork and Mindy. Films followed with a string of flops sprinkled with hits and four Oscar nominations. His meteoric career was matched by a tumultuous private life that included drugs and alcohol, infidelity, divorces, and health issues. His 2014 suicide came as a shock to the industry. The author goes into detail about Lewy body dementia, which may have factored in Williams's death. Extensive interviews with family and friends give this biography authenticity and offer an astute psychological analysis of the troubled actor and funnyman. Fred Berman narrates and captures many of the tics and manic delivery of his subject.