UNITED KINGDOM: Comedian Scott Capurro who acted alongside Robin Williams in the film Mrs Doubtfire, speaks about the late comedian

Record ID: 567121

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Comedian Scott Capurro who acted alongside Robin Williams in the film Mrs Doubtfire, speaks about the late comedian
  • Date: 13th August 2014
  • Summary: EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 12, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ASSEMBLY ROOMS THEATRE POSTER READING: "ASSEMBLY ROOMS EDINBURGH FRINGE 2014" COMEDIAN SCOTT CAPURRO TAKING TO THE STAGE CAPURRO PERFORMING AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMEDIAN SCOTT CAPURRO, SAYING: "It's terrible news. He was a great, a great comedy icon and a wonderful man, very generous, and an inspiration to a lot of generations of comics and I'm sure he'll continue to be that." VARIOUS OF CAPURRO PERFORMING AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMEDIAN SCOTT CAPURRO, SAYING: "I met him in a comedy club after I'd auditioned for his film Mrs Doubtfire and the club owner encouraged I approach him and tell him I'd auditioned. I was too shy but I finally did and Robin said 'well which role' and I said 'well the role of Aunt Jack' and then he said 'well that shouldn't be a problem' and before I knew it I was on the set with him and Harvey Fierstein for a week and then I would see him intermittently in comedy clubs after that and I saw him last summer doing a set in San Francisco and he was great." CAPURRO PERFORMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMEDIAN SCOTT CAPURRO, SAYING: "Well he was incredibly supportive and erudite and I never knew when the cameras were rolling really because he improvised so much, his mind worked so quickly, we just had to keep up, that was my job really, just to stay on track with him." CAPURRO PERFORMING AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMEDIAN SCOTT CAPURRO, SAYING: "He was doing a set and he seemed so sprightly and so you know childlike the way his set was you know like fast and imaginative and so personal and very intimate. I hadn't realised he really felt like he was talking to each person and I was in the front row and I really felt like he could jump on my lap you know not that he could see us but it just felt that he may just.. you know he wanted contact with people so badly, when in his set it just felt like he was very immediate and again the word generous just comes to mind when I think of him all the time." MICROPHONE ON EMPTY STAGE
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Obituaries
  • Reuters ID: LVA9O53OEPIPSLEMT682NDRQE97Y
  • Story Text: Scott Capurro, who acted alongside Robin Williams in the 1993 hit "Mrs Doubtfire", spoke on Tuesday (August 12) of his sadness at the death of the Oscar winning and groundbreaking comedian, shortly after a coroner said Williams hanged himself.
    Williams, 63, was found dead by his personal assistant at midday on Monday (August 11) in a bedroom. He was suspended from a belt wedged between a closet door and a door frame, in a seated position just off the ground, the coroner said.

    "It's terrible news. He was a great, a great comedy icon and a wonderful man, very generous, and an inspiration to a lot of generations of comics and I'm sure he'll continue to be that," said Capurro, who is performing a stand-up comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
    Capurro said Williams gave him his break when he auditioned for "Mrs Doubtfire".

    "I met him in a comedy club after I'd auditioned for his film Mrs Doubtfire and the club owner encouraged I approach him and tell him I'd auditioned. I was too shy but I finally did and Robin said 'well which role' and I said 'well the role of Aunt Jack' and then he said 'well that shouldn't be a problem' and before I knew it I was on the set with him and Harvey Fierstein for a week and then I would see him intermittently in comedy clubs after that and I saw him last summer doing a set in San Francisco and he was great," he said.

    "Well he was incredibly supportive and erudite and I never knew when the cameras were rolling really because he improvised so much, his mind worked so quickly, we just had to keep up, that was my job really, just to stay on track with him," added Capurro.
    Tributes have poured out from actors, comedians, politicians and generations of fans.
    Capurro described the last set he saw Williams performs.

    "He was doing a set and he seemed so sprightly and so you know childlike the way his set was you know like fast and imaginative and so personal and very intimate. I hadn't realised he really felt like he was talking to each person and I was in the front row and I really felt like he could jump on my lap you know not that he could see us but it just felt that he may just.. you know he wanted contact with people so badly, when in his set it just felt like he was very immediate and again the word generous just comes to mind when I think of him all the time," Capurro said.
    A force of manic energy, Williams long ago established himself as one of the world's most beloved comedians, and took audiences on wild flights of imagination that often stressed one simple message: seize the day.
    His improvisational stand-up routine broke all rules, whether he was giving a comedic account of a nuclear accident in the style of Shakespeare or grabbing a camera from an audience member and pointing the lens down his pants.
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