Remarkably, it's been an entire year since entertainment (and the world) lost a great talent in Robin Williams. While we may be collectively more familiar with the idea of him being gone, that doesn't make the loss any less real or painful.
Immediately after his tragic passing, the E! Online staff decided to gather together some of our favorite memories of the actor, and a year later these sentiments still ring very, very true. If you ever watched one of his movies, you were moved by him—whether it was his gut-busting comedy in Mrs. Doubtfire or his heartbreaking portrayal of a Peter Pan who just didn't want to grow up. Ahead, read how he affected each of our lives, and then share your own stories of Robin in the comments.
Sydney Bucksbaum: "I will never forget the first time I watched Mrs. Doubtfire (and the hundreds of times after that), I couldn't breathe during the scene where Robin smashed a pie onto his face and shouted, ‘Helloooo!' Just that tiny moment had me in stitches and will forever stick out in my mind for no good reason other than how it showed off Robin's unique charm and sparkle."
Rosemary Brennan: "I adore so many Robin Williams movies, but the scene at the end of Mrs. Doubtfire continues to move me so much. I was 11 when it came out, and felt a bit self-conscious that my own family looked different than those around me, so to hear Mrs. Doubtfire's speech about all sorts of families playing over the scene of Daniel picking up his kids for a visit made my heart swell. All my love to you poppet, you're going to be all right."
Brett Malec: "It was a run-by fruiting!!"
Jeffrey Wisenbaugh: "Hook is my favorite movie. The dinner scene with the Lost Boys gets me every time. The moment of realization when he flicks the colorful food at Rufio and starts believing again was magical during my childhood and still is today. You can just see the childlike amazement in his eyes. #bangarang"
Alyssa Toomey: "I can't help but burst out laughing every time I watch the scene from Mrs. Doubtfire where he puts his face in the pie to conceal his true identity and then pops up to say ‘Helloooo!' Robin Williams knew how to make people laugh unlike anyone else."
Jenna Mullins: "I broke my Hook VHS because I watched it so many times. I actually wore it out. Robin Williams was my Peter Pan. And then in school, years later, my English teacher showed the class Dead Poets Society, and I realized that the silly man flying around with Tinkerbell could make me cry, too. By then I was already a writer, and Robin's role in that movie made me realize that having ideas and living creatively inside your head was how you are supposed to go about your life.
"And finally, I distinctly remember laughing until I couldn't breathe or see straight watching this part of this standup special. It was shocking and honest and hilarious, all at once. It was Robin Williams."
Tierney Bricker: "Growing up, I loved so many of Robin Williams' films. As a Peter Pan junkie, I loved seeing the grown-up version embrace his inner child one last time before saying goodbye in Hook, and our family's VHS tape of Jumanji was constantly being rewound and rewatched. But even as a child, though I wasn't aware of it at the time, I was in awe of Williams' ability to delicately walk the line between humor and heartbreak. And no scene sticks out more for me as an example of that tightrope act than the courtroom scene in Mrs. Doubtfire, when Daniel fights for rights to see his children, which just gutted me every time I watched the movie. And it still does. Thank you for the laughs, the tears and for sharing your incomparable talent with us."
Jenna Loomer: "My brother grew up on the movie Popeye. He literally watched that movie every single day, wanting to be Robin Williams. I personally fell in love with him in Hook. But who didn't? There will never be a better Peter Pan movie. To this day my mom quotes the final line to me: ‘Well, it looks like your adventures are over.' Pan: ‘Oh no. To live, to live would be an awfully big adventure.'"
Rebecca Macatee: "The scene in Mrs. Doubtfire where she dances with the vacuum to "Dude Looks Like a Lady" made me laugh SO much when I was a kid. It stuck with me, too. To this day, almost every time I vacuum, I'm dancing (badly) as I clean!!"
Carrie Dilluvio: "As someone who wanted to be a writer for the majority of my life, this Robin Williams quote from Dead Poets Society has always resonated with me, ‘So avoid using the word ‘very' because it's lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don't use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys—to woo women—and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do.' In my journalism college courses and into my professional writing, I kept his words in the back of my mind. Sometimes certain situations or scenarios are too difficult to explain in writing, so many people will gloss over them. But keeping Robin's words in mind, I avoided ‘lazy' words or phrases at all costs, and it's been a valuable skill. A thesaurus always helps too. "
John Boone: "I love Jumanji and Mrs. Doubtfire and Aladdin. I remember watching Flubber as a kid and thinking it was the most wonderful thing in the world. I remember watching Jack and Patch Adams as a kid and being DEVASTATED. But for whatever reason, the first movie I thought of when I heard the news was One Hour Photo (2002). In middle school, I rode my bike to the movie theater by myself and snuck into One Hour Photo so I could see Michael Vartan's penis. But over a decade later, all I really remember about that movie is how terrifying Robin Williams was. It maybe wasn't his best movie, it may not have even been a good movie in the grand spectrum of movies, but he was a great actor, comedies or otherwise. His performances stay with you, even if he isn't around."