10 Best Robin Williams Performances Of All Time

Securing him a well-deserved Oscar nod, Williams' role in the heart wrenching, darkly humorous and wondrously inventive The Fisher King remains one his finest achievements.

The film follows Jack Lucas (an also-great Jeff Bridges), a shock jock who has a crisis of faith and befriends a tragic vagrant called Parry (Williams). Parry was once a respected school teacher; now he's a deluded homeless man on the search for the Holy Grail, having suffered a mental breakdown following the death of his wife.

Few roles hit as hard following Williams' untimely death as Parry, a man overcome with guilt, despair and anguish whilst still maintaining a sense of wonder and adventure. It's a striking exercise in mourning and trauma, and one that effortlessly pulls your heartstrings at every turn.

The Fisher King is a challenging but ultimately lovely film, and Williams' performance in it is one of the earliest examples of just how great a dramatic actor he could be.