Robin Williams

About Robin Williams

Robin Williams (1951-2014) was a highly influential comedian and actor, earning the rank of #966 on MIT's Historical Popularity Index. His historical importance stems from a career that profoundly shaped modern comedy, characterized by improvisational genius, rapid-fire wit, and a versatility that spanned from groundbreaking television sitcoms to Oscar-winning dramatic roles. His influence on global popular culture is undeniable across multiple decades and media.

Despite this significance, his 2025 annualized Wikipedia pageviews clocked in at 5.4 million, resulting in a substantial **+17x overattention** relative to his historical importance ranking. This indicates that current online attention levels are significantly higher than his historical cultural footprint would predict. Intriguingly, this level of attention dwarfs that of literary titans in the comparison pool; for instance, Williams receives more than seven times the traffic of Alexander Pushkin (#458 importance) and over twenty times the traffic of Molière (#207 importance).

While Williams currently receives overattention, there are slight signs of potential cooling in the immediate term: his pageviews saw a modest decline of -4.8% year-over-year. However, recent interest remains high, evidenced by a **+14% momentum** surge between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his legacy continues to generate spikes in engagement.