As news of the death of Robin Williams spread Monday night, I reached out to Floyd Vivino a.k.a. Uncle Floyd, who played Private Eddie Kirk in the movie "Good Morning Vietnam."

Floyd, who had just found out and was very upset by the news, told stories of hanging out with Williams in Thailand and partying with Robert Wuhl, J.T. Walsh and the rest of the cast. He spoke of their resemblance and how Williams told him they could be brothers. Floyd also spoke of how depression is part of many comics lives.

"I feel terrible right now. Our job is to make people forget the sadness," he told me. "I kept telling people he was the smartest man on Earth."

I commented that it often takes a lot of sadness to make people laugh the way Williams did and Floyd said, "The most serious people on Earth are the comedians."

Floyd remembers his fellow comedian as being nice and accommodating while on the "Good Morning Vietnam" set. He remembers playing ball with him and how Williams always seemed healthy, saying "he was very athletic, he took care of himself."

 

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