Robin Williams And His Amazingly Heartwarming Connection To Superman

The exact nature of their touching relationship is explored in the new documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, currently playing in select theaters. That movie details how Robin Williams’ legendary sense of humor helped save Superman actor Christopher Reeves after he was paralyzed and in a very dark place. Will Reeve says that the two men “had a singular bond” and even referred to one another as “brother.”

If touching stories is your Kryptonite, here’s a fair warning: Will Reeve’s tales of Robin Williams’ relationship with Christopher Reeve will echo the old Superman tagline because you will believe that a man can cry. He describes how “they had a friendship that someone should make a movie about, but what shone through in that was just their love and respect for each other, and that never wavered.”

Will Reeve also declared that “No one was better at showing up with love and with the right dose of humor than Robin Williams and his wife Marsha, who we call our fairy godmother,” a woman with whom he and his family “are still so incredibly close.

Of course, the significance of what Robin Williams did for Christopher Reeve may not have as much impact on younger Superman fans who don’t know the heartbreaking story of Reeve’s paralysis. In 1995, the beloved actor was participating in an equestrian competition and fell off his horse, breaking his neck and paralyzing him from the neck down.

This had an understandably negative impact on the actor’s state of mind because his mobility was taken from him and significantly affected his career, though he continued to act and even popped up on Smallville. 

But just how, specifically, did Robin Williams make his best friend and Superman actor chuckle? According to Will Reeve, the Mrs. Doubtfire actor managed to make Christopher Reeve laugh during that first hospital visit by doing some of his trademark zany impressionism. In this case, what made the paralyzed man laugh was Williams’ imitation of a Russian protctologist.

Part of what makes this otherwise heartwarming tale so bittersweet is the fact that both actors tragically passed away too early. Aladdin actor Robin Williams died of suicide in 2014 and Superman actor Christopher Reeve died of heart failure in 2004. Fortunately, each of these talented actors lives on via their awesome performances as well as touching tales like the one shared by Will Reeve.

If you would like more of these touching tales, you’re in luck: the documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is playing in select theaters September 21 through 25, and you can still snag a ticket if you’re faster than a speeding bullet. Among other things, the movie explores the early friendship of Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve as well as the latter actor’s time playing Superman and his life after paralysis.

And until we have that cool Kryptonian crystal memory technology, this may be the best way to honor and remember the finest actor (sorry, Henry Cavill) to ever don the iconic red cape and save the world onscreen as the Man of Steel.