Celebrities

Sally Field Reveals Robin Williams Changed ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Filming Order So She Could Leave Set After Her Father Died: ‘He Was Very Sensitive and Intuitive’

reprinted courtesy Variety

By Zack Sharf, 20 hrs ago

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on this story, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

VarietyFollow

Sally Field recently told Vanity Fair that Robin Williams made arrangements for her to leave the “Mrs. Doubtfire” set when her father died during filming. Field had not planned to disrupt the production due to the personal matter, but Williams could tell something was off about his co-star and made director Chris Columbus change the order of filming so that the production could shoot around Field for a day.

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Teen Star Says Robin Williams Spoke ‘Super Honestly About Mental Health’ and Made Her Feel Like ‘I’m Not a Freak. I Don’t Have to Hide This About Myself’

“I never shared this story before,” Field said. “I was in the camper outside of the courtroom where we were shooting the divorce scene. My father had a stroke a couple of years before, and was in a nursing facility. I got a phone call from the doctor saying my father had passed — a massive stroke. He asked if I wanted them to put him on the resuscitator. I said, ‘No, he did not want that. Just let him go. And please lean down and say, “Sally says goodbye.”‘”

“I was of course beside myself,” Field continued. “I came on the set trying with all my might to act. I wasn’t crying. Robin came over, pulled me out of the set, and asked, ‘Are you okay?’”

When Field eventually told Williams that her father had died, she remembered Williams responding: “Oh my God, we need to get you out here right now.”

“And he made it happen — they shot around me the rest of the day,” Field said. “I could go back to my house, call my brother and make arrangements. It’s a side of Robin that people rarely knew: He was very sensitive and intuitive.”

Williams impacted the lives of many of his co-stars during the making of “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Lisa Jakub, who was a teenager when she played the eldest daughter of Williams’ character in the film, told Fox News Digital earlier this year that Williams was the first person to speak openly to her about mental health struggles when they worked together on “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Actor Got ‘Thrown Out of High School’ Due to Starring in the Film, So Robin Williams Wrote a Letter Urging the Principal to ‘Rethink This Decision’

“He would talk to me about his struggles and the things that he went through,” Jakub said. “And it was the first time that I felt like, ‘Oh, I’m not a freak. I don’t have to hide this about myself. This is just something that some of us have to deal with.’”

“Mrs. Doubtfire” starred Williams as a father who decides to dress up as a female housekeeper so he can work for his estranged wife and see his children. The movie was the second highest-grossing film of 1993 with $441 million worldwide.

During a May interview on the “Brotherly Love” podcast, Jakub also shared how Williams tried to help her when she was kicked out of high school for taking time off to shoot “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

“The amazing thing was Robin saw that I was upset — he asked me what was going on,” Jakub said. “He wrote a letter to my principal saying that he wanted them to rethink this decision and that I was just trying to pursue my education and career at the same time, and could they please support me in this. The principal got the letter, framed the letter, put it up in the office, and didn’t ask me to come back. Amazing.”

Head over to Vanity Fair’s website to read more from Field.

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Kids Reunite 31 Years After the Robin Williams Classic and Say ‘We Still Feel Like Siblings’: ‘It’s Always a Joy to See’ Each Other

Facebook

Message

Email

Messenger

Copy Link

159.3k Followers

Variety

The business of entertainment.Follow

Two Good News Stories in One : Good Timing

1 )

Ragan Henry (1934-2008)- Black radio pioneer and art promoter helped blacks and others in radio and art but might never have happened if Henry were born a year earlier.

1952 was the first year Harvard took in Black -then Known as Negros- students. Ragan Henry was one of 13 admitted, accordimg to my reliable uncle, Richard Marchick. No affirmative action HERE; he was admitted purely on scohlarship.

2)

Dr Richard Marchick , here celebrating 60 years with wife Gloria. None of it would have probably happened if he were born only a year earlier.

My uncle, Dr. Richard Marchick  , who just celebrated his 90th, remembers Harvard classmate Ragan as a hardworking student ,who also had a second obstacle-to battle his own Dad to make Harvard really happen because the family needed Ragan to work to bring in money. Ragan agreed to take on a job at night just to honor his dad’s wishes and still get Into Harvard.

With his Harvard education behind him, Ragan A. Henry initially amassed 26 radio stations on the East Coast, starting in the 1970s when it wasn’t easy for black people to own any at all. Later 26 stations became 60, nationwide. But with smarts, wits and a dream, he was one of the few.. It wasn’t easy, born the son of share croppers making $10 a week in Kentucky, 1934

Art of black artist Moe Brooker from the Ragun Henry collection

Henry was the first African American to own a network-affiliated TV station and helped paved the way for media moguls who are household names today. He also massage a collection of black reduced art helping to promote black artists of the day, among ofhers. But very few people know or remember his name, for his rise as a broadcast entrepreneur came before the internet and Facebook and Twitter. You wont even find a listing on wikipedia. (From https://myauctionfinds.com/2018/11/12/ragan-a-henry-radio-pioneer-art-connoisseur/#:~:text=Ragan%20A.%20Henry%20amassed%20a%20bevy%20of%20radio,a%20dream%2C%20he%20was%20one%20of%20the%20few.)

Andrew Turner, four figures, oil on canvas.

2 ) Speaking of my Uncle Richard Marchick,

At lunch over a reuben sandwich at Orinda Europa hofbrau the other day , he told me ‘the rest of the story’ as Paul Harvey might say. My Uncle relates that he only got into Harvar d,  himself , because it was the first year Harvard started accepting Jews. He had been turned down by Stanford while  non-Jewish friends with lower scores were accepted.

But then, like with Henry having a second obstacle, Marchick during a routine physical exam, despite having no symptoms was diagnosed with a detached retina that made Harvard reverse its decision to accept him. There were only three retinal specialists at the time and the one on the East coast told Marchick he would go blind as there was yet no reliable  treatment for reattaching the retina . Lazer was still a half century away and even cryo was not yet available. Only Electric cauterization and

Photo coagulation were possibilities and only recently available.  Luckily, the retina specialist on the west coast told Marchick he could do the surgery but Marchick would have to be layed up for months, the first two weeks with sandbags , and wear pinhole glasses.

Marchick gratefully accepted his only real chance to avoid blindness. After a successful surgery, the doctor wrote Harvard a letter assuring it that Marxhick would not go blind- and he still got into  Harvard that year.

Had Marchick been born only a year earlier he would have likey gone blind AND not been accepted to Harvard or become the reknown California physician and Henry would not have beem atmitted to Harvard NOR LIKELY GONE ON TO PURCHASE AND OPERATE 60 BLACK BROADCAST CHANNELS!. That’s called GOOD TIMING and GOOD NEWS!

On a personal note I well remember ‘Uncle Dick’ as a fledgling salesman for Merk(?) , living with our family in Oakland after Harvard,and. driving a cool 57 Chevy while wearing pinhole glasses – a temporary aftermath of his eye surgery (and not in that order). We hung out at the 19c hamburger place and listened to Harry Belafonte tunes together. NOT BAD MEMORIES for a kid! …and what a great thing to still be able to hang out together some 60 years later.😃

It would be hard to find a person who was unfamiliar with Clint Eastwood. In addition to being an actor, he has produced and directed films for many years.

In San Francisco, California, on May 31, 1930, Eastwood was born.His charm and his ability to play in the spaghetti Westerns for which he was well-known soon gained him notoriety.

He switched to becoming a director by the 1970s, and he was starting to gain recognition for his outstanding films. It all began in 1971 when he directed Play Misty for Me.He has directed numerous movies over the years, such as Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, and Unforgiven.

Oscars were won for those films, and he seemed to be capable of anything.In addition to his career as an actor, director, and filmmaker, he entered the political sphere. He served as the mayor of Carmel by the Sea, California, and throughout the years, he has maintained his conservative position.Eastwood chose to share his story with the public at the age of 89. Even though we had known him for years, we had never had a behind-the-scenes look until then.Being born during the Great Depression and growing up in a mobile home with his family presented some difficulties for Eastwood. In spite of those challenges, he overcame the years to establish himself as a powerful figure.

He was drafted into the US Army in 1950, and at the age of 21, he had to swim several miles to safety after his plane crashed in the Pacific. This gave him the opportunity to reflect on how fleeting life was.Despite being ninety-three years old, Clint Eastwood is still a well-known figure in both the on and off screen worlds. We eagerly anticipate what he has in store for us down the road

Matthew McConaughey says coronavirus has been ‘hijacked’ by ‘partisan politics,’ calls for unity

---

Rasha Ali   | USA TODAY 8:32 a.m. PDT May 13, 2020

5 Key Takeaways for Grads :

1) Act today so you will be proud tomorrow, e.g. those comments you leave online will outlive you.

2) Inspire yourself and others. Laugh and have as much fun as you can when you can

3) Life’s hard, even without a damn pandemic. Realize that now and youll enjoy your life a whole lot more.

4) Dont be afraid to fail. Take risks and learn who you are and persist to be that person and get what you want.

5) Let your reach exceed your grasp and what you end up getting will be better that you would have grasped

6) Its o.k. to screw up (much like 4.)

7) Take care of your family, friends and loved ones. Make a plan, stick with it and own it

Matthew McConaughey is calling for unity during the coronavirus pandemic which he feels has been politicized.

The Academy Award-winning actor appeared on Tuesday’s “Special Report with Bret Baier” to discuss his new PSA, aimed at uniting Americans during the pandemic, and remind people that COVID-19 “is not about politics.”

“I could feel that this united purpose we all have as Americans to beat this enemy and this virus, that purpose got hijacked a bit by partisan politics,” McConaughey said. “The narrative became if you want to go to work, you’re on the far right. If you don’t go to work, you want to stay home, you’re on the far left. And now even the mask wearing is getting politicized, where if you want to wear a mask, you wear a mask, you’re a liberal and if you don’t, you’re conservative and that’s just not true.”

The “Dallas Buyers Club” actor said this divide has caused people to fight two wars: one against the virus and one against each other.

“This is not about politics, it’s about us. The U.S.A. We got to take care of each other right now, we have a collective purpose,” the 50-year-old actor said. “How many times are we unanimously convicted of an enemy that we all want to beat? Look at how great Americans are when purpose comes to us in a crisis.”

He continued: “This is a tug of war with the virus, we need all hands on the rope if we’re going to beat it.”

McConaughey said although he doesn’t see a solution to the pandemic right now, he encourages people to think of ways they can help.

“We are waiting for science to catch up with us in this predicament. So what can each of us do independently, individually in our families, in our households, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our cities?” the actor said. “This is uncharted waters, there’s not a playbook. I understand that. These are band-aids and things we need to do to hold this off until we have enough science to understand (it’s safe to re-engage).”

The “Gentlemen” actor also encouraged people to wear masks if they go outside. 

“I hope we wear masks as a badge of honor and something we feel like somebody told us we had to wear and it takes away our identity. I think wearing a mask is not propaganda,” McConaughey said. “I don’t think it’s partisanship or politics. I think a mask is all about our purpose right now.

FREE Weekly Updates —Latest, Greateat Deals, Tips and unbiased news

New High of 90% of Americans Satisfied With Personal Life says Gallup mainstream poll