American comedian Robin Williams first gained popularity for his role as an alien in the television show “Mork and Mindy” (1978-1982). He went on to act in several motion pictures, including The World According to Garp (1982) and Good Morning, Vietnam(1987), for which he received the first of several Academy Award nominations. In the late 1980s Williams and fellow comedians Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg organized Comic Relief, a cable television comedy progam to raise funds for the homeless.