When we think of Robin Williams, we usually think of a man who belonged to the whole world. He was the genie in the lamp, the cross-dressing nanny, and the professor who taught us to seize the day. But if you’re asking where is Robin Williams from, the answer isn't just one dot on a map.
It’s actually a trail of three very different American cities.
Most people assume he was a product of the gritty San Francisco comedy scene, and while that’s where he found his voice, he actually started his life in the Midwest. He was a wealthy kid in the suburbs of Chicago and Detroit long before he was a struggling artist in California.
Born in the Windy City
Robin McLaurin Williams was born at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951.
Honestly, his early years were a world away from the manic, high-energy persona he later adopted. His father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a senior executive for the Lincoln-Mercury Division of Ford Motor Company. His mother, Laurie McLaurin, was a former fashion model from Mississippi. Because of his father's high-ranking job, Robin was raised in a world of significant privilege, but it was also a world of quiet isolation.
He grew up in Lake Forest, an affluent suburb of Chicago. He attended Gorton Elementary and Deer Path Junior High. By his own account, he was a "short, shy, chubby" kid. He didn't have a ton of friends, so he spent a lot of time in the family’s large house playing with toy soldiers.
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It was during these lonely hours in Chicago that he began to develop the voices.
The Michigan Move and the "Mansion"
When Robin was 12, Ford transferred his father to the Detroit area. The family moved into a massive 40-room farmhouse sitting on 20 acres in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
This is where the "where is Robin Williams from" question gets interesting. If you ask locals in Michigan, they’ll claim him as a Detroit son. He attended the prestigious Detroit Country Day School, where he actually excelled at sports. He was on the wrestling team and served as class president.
But even in a 40-room mansion, he was often alone. Both of his parents worked or traveled frequently, and he was largely raised by the family’s maid. He later credited his mother’s sharp, Southern wit as a major influence, but it was the silence of that big Michigan house that forced him to become his own entertainment.
He once joked that he started doing impressions just to get his mother's attention. It worked.
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The California Shift: Finding His Tribe
Everything changed when he was 16. His father took an early retirement, and the family packed up and moved to Tiburon, California, in Marin County.
The move from the buttoned-up Midwest to the counterculture of the late 1960s in Northern California was like switching from black-and-white to Technicolor. He enrolled at Redwood High School in Larkspur.
Suddenly, the "shy, chubby" kid was gone. He joined the drama department and found that his "weirdness" was actually a superpower. By the time he graduated in 1969, his classmates voted him both "Funniest" and "Most Likely Not to Succeed."
Why the "Where" Matters
To understand Robin Williams, you have to see the contrast in his origins.
- Chicago/Detroit: These years gave him the "observer" status. He watched high-society people, learned their mannerisms, and developed the discipline of a private-school education.
- San Francisco/Marin: This gave him the freedom. The Bay Area was a melting pot of experimental comedy and political theater.
After a brief stint studying political science at Claremont Men's College, he realized he couldn't sit still in a classroom. He headed back to the College of Marin to study theater, eventually landing a full scholarship to Juilliard in New York City.
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But even at Juilliard, he felt like an outsider. His teacher, the legendary John Houseman, eventually told him he was wasting his time in classical theater and should go back to stand-up.
Mapping the Legacy
So, when people ask where is Robin Williams from, they are usually looking for the place that explains his genius.
The truth? He was a product of the Midwest’s lonely suburban basements and the West Coast’s radical stages. He was born in Chicago, matured in Michigan, and was "born again" as a performer in San Francisco.
He lived most of his adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area—specifically in Sea Cliff and Paradise Cay. When he passed away in 2014, his ashes were scattered in the San Francisco Bay, the place that finally felt like home.
Next Steps for Fans:
If you want to experience the "where" of Robin's life yourself, you can visit the Holy City Zoo site in San Francisco (though it's now a different business) or take a drive through the hills of Tiburon. For a deeper look at his Michigan years, the biography Robin by Dave Itzkoff offers incredible detail on his time at Detroit Country Day.