Jess Cagle Remembers Robin Williams

Editorial director of People and Entertainment Weekly offers his view on the comedian's death.

Thank you, Jess, from of course People Magazine Entertainment Weekly, and we always love it when you come on. And this morning, a tough subject, because this is such a loss. But you know he was universally admired and loved in Hollywood, wasn’t he?

He really was. A lot of comedians are known for being angry, I mean, that’s sort of the rap that they get. And you certainly couldn’t say that about Robin Williams. He clearly was a very complex guy. But, by all accounts, he was always incredibly professional. He was very, very kind. Whether you were operating with the camera or acting with him, whether you were sitting in a movie theater, he wanted you to like him, he wanted to make you laugh and he was always on. And I think what’s so sad about this is we realize that manic energy was really -- he was masking such profound, you know, sadness and difficulties in his own life.

And we’ve heard that from many people saying that about tears of a clown (yeah). That’s something that we don’t realize that they are dealing with and as you said, in the same -- he was always on. And no one knew really about this side of him, did they?

No, and he never released his demons on the rest of us. You know, he really wanted to make the world a better place. He was -- whether he would decorate his house, you know, for the holidays and hang out with the kids, he loved children because they were a great audience, you know. They loved to, he loved to make them laugh.

Childlike enthusiasm (yeah), everything(yeah). What do you think his legacy will be?

I think that he is like Jonathan Winters of a previous generation. He really defined a particular kind of comedy for a generation. And nobody, it’s really hard to find anybody who was ever had that kind of versatility as an actor, you know, that from "Mrs. Doubtfire" to the, you know, to the therapist in "Good will hunting," he just -- I think his own, I think again on his own complexities also made him a great actor. He just embraced everyone.

He still embraced everyone. Do you know what I mean? On screen and off screen, he seems like…

He was best at playing himself. That’s what somebody said and I think that’s so true when you see all those clips over the years.

Yeah, a very generous guy too. You saw the clips of him and the troupes, and he did a lot of charity work.

Of the homeless.

Yeah.

Hey, Jess, we thank you so much. Always so great to see you here.

Thank you.

And thanks for sharing your thoughts on the one only with Robin Williams.