Robin Williams's long big-screen history with Canada

Canada can lay claim to some of the funniest comedians and best performers on the planet, but very few of them could hold a candle to the late Robin Williams. The Chicago-born funnyman and Oscar-winner died on Aug. 11 at the age of 63.

Williams wasn’t Canadian, but he was no stranger to the Great White North. He shot some of his most memorable (and terrible) movies in Canada and would often perform live comedy or improv while he was shooting in Vancouver, Toronto, or elsewhere. He famously performed the anti-Canadian song "Blame Canada" from "South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut" at the 2000 Academy Awards, but clearly had a lot of love for the country.

During a 2013 Reddit AMA, he called the Canada the kindest nation in the world, jokingly comparing it to a "really nice apartment over a meth lab."

Here are eleven films Robin Williams shot in Canada over the course of his career.

Despite a film career spanning more than 30 years, Williams didn't shoot a movie in Canada until Joe Johnston’s 1995 family adventure film “Jumanji.” Set in New Hampshire (where some of the movie was shot), the majority of filming actually took place in Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia.

In 1997, Williams took on the role that won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. His portrayal of grief-stricken psychologist Sean Maguire in “Good Will Hunting” is probably the funnyman’s most famous dramatic turn. Although it’s famously set in Boston, Mass. (the hometown of writers/stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), much of “Good Will Hunting” was shot at the University of Toronto, which doubled for MIT and the surrounding area.

Williams returned to Toronto in 2002 to star in director Danny Devito’s critically-reviled black comedy “Death to Smoochy.” The actor played Rainbow Randolph, a disgraced (and quite possibly insane) kids show host who doesn’t take kindly to upstart Smoochy the Rhino (Edward Norton) taking over for him. “Death to Smoochy” was shot all over the Greater Toronto Area -- a fact that even locals would like to forget.

Also in 2002, Williams headed west to star opposite Al Pacino in Christopher Nolan’s “Insomnia,” a remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. One of the darkest dramatic roles of Williams’ career, the actor played a small-town Alaska serial killer being pursued by a big city detective (Pacino). “Insomnia” was shot in Vancouver and the surrounding area. It was the first (but not the last) Williams film to be set in Alaska but shot in Canada.

2004 saw Williams spend even more time in Canada. Another in a series of dramatic roles for Williams, the science fiction thriller “The Final Cut” put the actor in the role of Alan Hakman, a person with the somewhat unusual job of editing people’s recorded memories. Chunks of the little seen sci-fi film were shot in Vancouver. Williams also made an uncredited appearance as a mysterious stranger in Chazz Palminteri’s 2004 Christmas drama “Noel.” Although the film was set New York City, it was largely shot in Montreal.

Between 2005 and 2007, Williams spent much of his time working in Canada. In 2005, Williams starred in the dark comedy “The Big White,” shot in Manitoba. The actor played an Alaskan travel agent who gets tangled up with two hit men after trying to use a frozen corpse as part of a life insurance scam.

In fact, 2006 turned out to be the actor's biggest Canadian year ever. He shot three films in Canada that year: the road trip comedy “RV” (B.C. and Alberta doubled for the Colorado Rockies), Barry Levinson’s political comedy “Man of the Year” (Toronto stood in for Washington, D.C.), and “Night at the Museum” (which, despite being set in New York’s famed American Museum of Natural History, was actually shot in a Vancouver-based studio). Williams would return to Vancouver in 2007 for reshoots for the mostly forgettable rom-com “License to Wed,” and again in 2009 for “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” which also shot in Montreal.

Williams most recent (and sadly final) film project in Canada was “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” due out later this year. The actor reprised the role of famed U.S. president Teddy Roosevelt, and like previous films in the series it was shot mostly on Vancouver sound stages and the surrounding area.

Williams left a big impression on the Canadians he encountered over the course of his career. "The Big White" (2005) shot on location in Winnipeg, and Williams wowed the city’s small but tight-knit film community with his generosity and professionalism, often going out of his way to sign autographs and interact with the crew.

Almost everywhere Williams worked in Canada you can find similar stories about him being generous with both his time and talent. He will certainly be missed by the Canadian film industry and by the legions of fans he had in Canada.