Robin Williams

About Robin Williams

Robin Williams (1951-2014) was a globally influential comedian and actor whose impact spanned film, television, and live performance. MIT's Pantheon project ranks him #966 in historical importance, recognizing his role in shaping modern comedy and entertainment through iconic roles in works like Mork & Mindy, Dead Poets Society, and Good Will Hunting. His work often blended high-energy improvisation with deep emotional range, cementing a significant cultural legacy across decades.

Despite this high historical rank, Williams receives substantial contemporary internet attention, evidenced by 5.5 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This volume places him in a category of 'overattention' relative to his historical weighting, resulting in an Attention Gap score of +18x compared to the median figure. For contrast, Vasco da Gama, ranked #77 in importance, garnered only 869K views in the same period, illustrating a significant modern focus on cultural icons over earlier, arguably more world-altering figures.

Interestingly, while his overall attention is high, his year-over-year change shows a slight decline of -2.8%, though his Q1 vs Q3 momentum suggests a recent uptick in engagement of +18%.