Cecily Knobler

There was just something about actor and comedian Robin Williams that was equal parts vulnerable and hilarious, and that combo created pure magic. Whether it was on stage, on screen, or simply in an interview, Williams had this rare ability to put people at ease.

Shortly after his 1993 comedy Mrs. Doubtfire was released, Williams gave an interview on Des O'Connor Tonight, a British variety show hosted by comedian and singer Des O'Connor. In the @loveitfilm Instagram clip making the rounds, Williams delightfully explains how he "found" the character's voice.

Clad in a suit and tie, Williams is animated as he explains, "I first started doing the voice (he screams) VERY MUCH LIKE THAT. LIKE JULIA CHILD. AND I REALIZED THAT WOULD SCARE EVEN A HYPERACTIVE CHILD. So I had to kind of tune it down and I got more like Margaret Thatcher on steroids. And then I kind of took a little bit of Bill Forsyth and a little bit of this costume designer who's this wonderful, sweet lady named Merritt and combined them and got this gentle, gentle voice of Mrs. Doubtfire who can still say GET AWAY."

O'Connor affirms Doubtfire's kind nature, agreeing, "She was gentle, wasn't she?" Williams then works his magic, turning the sweet moment into a brilliant joke: "Oh she's nourishing. She could breastfeed an entire football team."

The Instagram page shares a bit of context: "He drew inspiration from Bill Forsyth, who he just finished shooting a film with at the time, and inspiration from the film’s costume designer. He combined her warmth with a comedic edge to create the gentle yet commanding tone of Mrs. Doubtfire."

Robin Williams appears on Des O'Connor Tonight in 1994. www.youtube.com, Des O'Connor Tonight

Williams was brilliant throughout the entire interview. O'Connor, who announces Williams had just gotten a Golden Globe for the character, seems genuinely excited to introduce him. Williams comes dancing out, revealing his very high-waisted black pants. O'Connor offers him tea, to which Williams jokes, "I love that. A little tea and Prozac makes the day go by so quick." He adds, his mind quickly firing, "And some sugar. A little Betty Ford speedball, great!"

From there, the jokes simply never stop. They begin discussing Mrs. Doubtfire, and Williams kids that he had a bikini wax for the role, which was "totally unnecessary." When the topic of the accent comes up, Williams explains, "It's kind of Glaswegian (Scottish) because I just finished working with Bill Forsyth for four months." (The film he's referring to is Being Human, which co-starred Ewan McGregor in his first ever role.)

As they go on, Williams doesn't let up. He makes dinosaur and A Chorus Line jokes all in one sentence, keeping the audience on their toes.

The topic of the 1994 Northridge earthquake comes up, and, in typical Williams style, he gets beautifully serious. "If there's any good side to earthquakes, it's that people suddenly drop all the, you know, 'where's my fax machine,' and suddenly simple things—I mean like water, air—and people start to take care of each other. I mean it really happened in San Francisco. Crime goes down. I think crime in L.A. went down 80 percent."

Williams then jokes, "I think it's because they can't find their ammunition. But people start to forget about everything else and you're forced back to the bottom line of taking care of each other. It happens. And then people start to realize, 'You're my neighbor. I've been hooked up to the cable for four years.'"

He then plugs Comic Relief, a non-profit charity fundraiser he co-hosted with Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal to raise money for the homeless epidemic.

Robin Williams does standup for Comic Relief. www.youtube.com, A Blast from the Past

Comments from across social media are reminders of how much Williams was loved. One adoringly shares, "I love that the interview gave him a chance to remind people he was a humanitarian. He actually cared for people. Such a wonderful man. He brought so much positivity to the world."