Robin Williams’ gay and gender-defying roles
As the world mourns the loss of actor Robin Williams, we take a look at some of his gay and gender-defying roles.
Mrs Doubtfire
The cross-dressing comedy, released in 1993, stars Williams in the lead role, while he also served as the film’s producer. Williams’ character Danial, whose marriage is on the rocks, becomes the elderly Scottish nanny Mrs Euphegenia Doubtfire, in order to look after his own children.
The classic film was a huge box office success, and the film won an Oscar for best make-up, given Williams’ transition.
Boulevard
One of the last films that Williams recorded was his leading role in Boulevard, in which he plays a man struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, after meeting the young street hustler Leo (Roberto Aguire).
The film – shot in Nashville last year – screened last month at the Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles, but is yet to secure distribution or a date for a commercial release.
The Birdcage
In the 1996 remake of French farcical comedy La Cage aux Folles, William starred as Armand Goldman, a Jewish gay man who hides both his sexuality and ancestry in order to impress his son’s conservative future in-laws.
He said of the cult classic: “This movie is such a great comedy, maybe in the process of laughing there can be more acceptance at a time when people are trying to shove the clock back and writing the Constitution on an Etch-A-Sketch.”
