Actor and comedian Robin Williams, who died on Monday at age 63, was not the type of creative genius who wanted to go it alone, but wanted to take his audience along for the ride, said his friend and fellow comic Dennis Miller.
"I always thought Robin was a genius with a sidecar," Miller said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's
"The O'Reilly Factor."
Miller said he was often amazed at Williams' talent as he watched him from the wings of one of his live shows.
"People would float out of that room like all of a sudden they were on the existential tour for the night with the most existential tour guide in the history of the planet," Miller said.
"He wanted them to be privy to him," he said. "He was a brilliant diffuser of fame. When people would see him on the street it was like they were seeing a fictional character. And there was minimal lag time between him watching their jaws drop to him picking their jaws up and forming them into a smile."
Miller called Williams an immense intellect and a fearless comedian. All of that was dwarfed, though, by an even bigger heart, he said.
"He was the sweetest, gentlest cat that I encountered in my life," Miller said. "You saw big laughs, but you saw wonderment, too."
Williams' death was ruled suicide, and Miller said that if a person with as much going for him as Williams could feel so alone, it is a warning to everyone. He said it would honor Williams' memory to reach out to another person whenever you feel in such desperate straits because hope is always just around the corner.
"At the core, his 'default' set was gentle," Miller said of his friend, "and his unconscious was sweet."