FLASHBACK: Robin Williams Was All Jokes in 1982 Interview After a Steamy Comedy Club Performance

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In honor of the one-year anniversary of Robin Williams' death, ET is looking back at our first time meeting the late actor on a hot New York City night.

ET talked to Williams after Catch a Rising Star Comedy Club's 10th anniversary show in 1982. Even though the beloved comedian had just stepped off stage, the show was just getting started.


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"It's like a combination comedy club and sauna tonight but it's nice to lose weight and perform at the same time," Williams told Robin Leach who was reporting for ET.

The comedian had just finished his Oscar-nominated movie The World According to Garp, which shaped his life in a major way.

"I learned that I want to have a family of my own," Williams said. "It's something I really strongly desire."

The next year, Williams and then-wife Valerie Velardi welcomed son Zak, now 32. Williams later had two more children with his second wife Marsha Garces, Zelda, now 25, and Cody, 23.


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Despite his magnetic personality, Williams enjoyed his privacy, buying a property outside of Los Angeles in order to get away from it all.

"You know you don't see a lot of sparrows building a nest in the subway," Williams explained. "You just want to go away some place really quiet. It's beautiful."

As the interview came towards the end of the run of his popular sitcom, Mork & Mindy, Williams was just getting to experience the serenity he so greatly desired.


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"I feel so much calmer now. It's very peaceful to go, 'Aah,'" Williams said, sighing for effect. "It's nice to take a breather now. It's sad the series is over, and it's nice to kind of go, 'Look!'"

"I feel wonderful," he added, "and I feel real happy with my life and the people I'm surrounded with."