Robin Williams may be gone, but his friends in Hollywood are making sure he'll never be forgotten. Longtime pal Billy Crystal honored the late actor with a moving tribute at the 2014 Emmys on Monday, Aug. 25, and Kathy Bates followed suit with her own mini tribute backstage.
After accepting the Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Miniseries, the American Horror Story: Coven star said she thought about dedicating the win to Williams, who died of an apparent suicide at age 63 on Aug. 11. "I almost wanted to say, 'Look, I own this time and this is for you,' but I was just so…nervous," she said Monday, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Bates, 66, then went on to share a story about the late Mork & Mindy actor. "When I won my first major award for Misery — a Golden Globe — they didn't have cell phones, and I was waiting at a pay phone to call my mother afterward and I didn't have a quarter," she recalled. "I turned around and asked, and Robin said, 'Here's a quarter to call your mother.' I never forgot that kindness."
(In fact, Bates referenced that moment in a tweet shortly after Williams' death. "Magnificent Robin RIP," she wrote on Aug. 11. "The Black Dog won the war. So sad. Thank you for the quarter you loaned me to call my mom at the '90 Globes.")
Years later, at the 1998 Academy Awards, Bates had another memorable encounter with the actor. She was nominated at the time for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Primary Colors, but lost the Oscar to Shakespeare in Love's Dame Judi Dench. Williams, who had presented the award, sought her out afterward to check in.
"He came to me and said, 'I really wished I could have had your name in the envelope. Are you okay? I know how hard it is to lose,'" she told THR. "He was so kind to me."