Robin Williams Behavior On The Set Of Mork And Mindy Was Seriously Wrong

Over the last few years, there have been a lot of celebrities who’ve been “canceled” and even more conversation about whether or not that is a good thing. At the end of the day, the reason why so many stars have wound up in hot water is that celebrities often screw up in big ways that forever change the way the public sees them. As a result, it has now become so common for stars to be rocked by controversies that people assume the worst whenever a star’s name trends on Twitter these days.

Even though famous people mess up so often, there still are a few stars that people would be devastated to learn did something really bad. For example, most people like stars like Tom Hanks, Anna Kendrick, Keanu Reeves, Betty White, John Krasinski, and Kristen Bell enough that they would take it personally if they had a dark side revealed. Similarly, Robin Williams was one of the most beloved stars in the world during his life which is why nobody wants to be given a reason to think less of him. Sadly, however, that doesn’t make it any less true that Willaims’ behavior on the set of Mork & Mindy was seriously wrong and wouldn’t fly today.

Robin Williams And Pam Dawber Were Longtime Co-Stars And Lifelong Friends

By the time Robin Williams met his untimely demise in 2014, he’d long since cemented his legacy as one of the biggest movie stars of his generation and all time. For that reason, a lot of people have forgotten that Williams truly launched his acting career when he played an alien named Mork on the hit show Happy Days. After starring in two Happy Days episodes, Williams went on to play the same character in the spin-off Mork & Mindy.

From 1978 until 1982, 92 episodes of Mork & Mindy aired with Robin Williams and Pam Dawber playing the two titular characters. Based on everything she has said about Williams in the years since Mork & Mindy came to an end, Dawber remained very close with Williams and took his passing hard. For that reason, some of the revelations about Williams that were contained in a biography of Dawber that was released in 2018 took readers by surprise.

Robin William’s Behavior On The Mork & Mindy Set

While talking to her biographer, Pam Dawber had a lot to say about her personal life with her husband Mark Harmon, and their kids. Despite that, the things that Dawber had to say about Robin Williams’ behavior on the set of Mork & Mindy is what really stood out in her biography. “I had the grossest things done to me by him and I never took offense. I mean I was flashed, humped, bumped, grabbed. I think he probably did it to a lot of people … but it was so much fun.”

Of course, it is important to note that Pam Dawber made it very clear that she was comfortable with how Robin Williams acted on the set of Mork & Mindy. However, that doesn’t mean that Williams had the right to do those things to her unless she told him that it was ok. Of course, it is possible and even probable that Dawber made it very clear to Williams that she enjoyed his behavior.

Putting aside Pam Dawber’s opinion of Robin Williams’ behavior on the set of Mork & Mindy, she stated her belief that he treated other people who worked on the show the same way. In fact, Dawber even told her biographer that Williams once “goosed” the elderly actor who played Mindy’s grandmother by poking a cane in between her buttocks.

Of course, nobody asked the actor who played Mindy’s grandmother, Cora Hudson, how she felt about what Robin Williams did to her. As a result, there is a very small chance that Hudson was fine with what happened but even if that was the case, Williams almost certainly didn’t know that. Furthermore, even if Williams went around asking everyone on the set of Mork & Mindy what they were comfortable with, he was the show’s star. A huge portion of people in that situation would tell the show’s star they were ok with his behavior even if they weren’t. As a result, it is all but certain that Williams made several people who worked on Mork & Mindy habitually uncomfortable.

In all fairness to Robin Williams, it is important to note that Mork & Mindy was produced during a very different time. As a result, nobody was talking about power dynamics back when he was acting like that. With that in mind and the fact that almost everyone who worked with Williams sang his praises, it seems extremely safe to assume that he never meant any harm to anyone.