4. He Cheered Up The Crew Of Schindler's List (As Genie)
Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning drama about the Holocaust isn't exactly a laugh-a-minute. Or at least it shouldn't be, and if you watch it as such you should probably take a long, hard look in the mirror. And then get rid of all those swastikas that decorate your home. The stony-faced tone and respectfully serious approach to the source material weighed heavily on the cast and crew, who didn't get many chuckles out of recreating concentration camps and chronicling the (ultimately hopeful!) story of, Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved thousands of lives during World War II. It ended up being an especially personal and emotional film to make for Spielberg himself, who grew up Jewish and suffered from some pretty horrendous anti-semitic bullying as a kid. Things got so bad that the director decided, to lift his spirits, he'd ring up his mate Robin Williams every couple of weeks. The consummate performer managed to cheer up not just Spielberg but the rest of the cast and crew too, putting on the voice of the Genie from Aladdin, telling jokes and taking everyone's mind off the disturbing story they were telling.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
