<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Robin Williams was always a star, even before he became famous. Henry Winkler felt it all the way back in 1978, when the then-unknown comic actor, 26 at the time, got his big break as the alien Mork on a season five episode of Happy Days, &amp;quot;My Favorite Orkan.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nOn Wednesday, Aug. 13 &amp;#x2014; two days after Williams was found dead of an apparent suicide at age 63 &amp;#x2014; Winkler, 68, appeared via satellite on the Today show, where he talked about his first meeting with the late comedian more than 30 years ago. As he remembers it, the sitcom&amp;apos;s casting directors had a hard time finding someone to play Mork. And then they met Williams.\r\n\r\nMidway through shooting the episode, Winkler recalled, &amp;quot;a young, very quiet, very delicate man&amp;quot; arrived on set. &amp;quot;All of a sudden, all you see are sparks,&amp;quot; the Fonz told Matt Lauer.\r\n&amp;quot;Unless you were in the ground, you knew that you were in the presence of greatness,&amp;quot; he added. &amp;quot;That&amp;apos;s not talking because now we&amp;apos;re making a tribute; that is the honest truth. This man was from another plane. His imagination flew out of him, out of every pore like a torrent.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nIndeed, Winkler told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, Aug. 11, that he had a difficult time keeping a straight face opposite Williams. &amp;quot;There was not one time [his dialogue] came out the same. There was not one time it was not truly, endlessly, and fervently funny,&amp;quot; he raved. &amp;quot;You saw it and your mouth dropped. You couldn&amp;apos;t believe it. I&amp;apos;ve worked with a lot of people and there is and was no one quite like him.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nOnce Williams got his own spinoff, Mork &amp;amp; Mindy, there was no stopping him. &amp;quot;After a while, I don&amp;apos;t think they even bothered writing comic pieces for him because he was uncontainable in this universal way,&amp;quot; Winkler, who now stars on Royal Pains, told THR. &amp;quot;He was touched. He was given something.&amp;quot;\r\nHe also gave something back, in the form of his many movies and characters. &amp;quot;It is so tragic, because he was so loved,&amp;quot; the Happy Days alum said on the Today show. &amp;quot;It&amp;apos;s just amazing how he touched the world.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/henry-winkler-shares-memories-of-robin-williams-on-happy-days-2014138>