Marsha Garces Williams (born June 18, 1956) is an American film producer and philanthropist. She was married to actor and comedian

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

from 1989 to 2010.

Early life

Marsha Lynn Garces was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. She grew up in

Shorewood, Wisconsin Shorewood is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 13,859 at the 2020 census. History In the early 19th century when the first white se ...

, and attended Shorewood High School. Garces' father, Leon Garces, was Filipino and born in

Ubay, Bohol Ubay, officially the Municipality of Ubay (; ), is a fast growing municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 81,799 people. Ubay has an uncontested area of 258.132847 square kilomet ...

; he moved to the United States in 1929. He later served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Her mother, Ina Rachel Mattila, was Finnish.

Personal life and career

Garces met Williams in 1984 when she was employed as a nanny for Williams's son Zachary. Previously, Garces was a painter and a waitress. He and Velardi never fully reconciled. Garces married Robin Williams on April 30, 1989, following the 1988 divorce from his first wife, Valerie. Garces became

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

with Williams' child late in 1988, and the pair were later married on April 30, 1989. According to his first wife, the romantic relationship between Robin and Marsha began after they separated. During their marriage, they had two children, Zelda Rae and Cody Alan, born in 1989 and 1991, respectively. In March 2008, she filed for divorce from Williams citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce was finalized in 2010. After working as the family's nanny, Garces worked with Williams as his personal assistant on films such as ''

Good Morning, Vietnam ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' is a 1987 American war comedy film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. Set in Saigon in 1965, during the Vietnam War, the film stars Robin Williams as an Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) D ...

'' (1987) and ''

Dead Poets Society ''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Schulman. The film, starring Robin Williams, is set in 1959 at a fictional elite boarding school called Welton Academy, and tells ...

'' (1989). She was later the producer for several of Williams's films. Together, they founded a film production company, Blue Wolf Productions, in 1991. Garces Williams has been involved philanthropically with organizations such as

Doctors Without Borders Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

and

Seacology Seacology is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization headquartered in Berkeley, California, that works to preserve island ecosystems and cultures around the world. Founded in 1991, it began with the work of ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox, ...

Filmography

*1993 – '' Mrs. Doubtfire'' *1998 – '' Patch Adams'' *1999 – ''

Jakob the Liar ''Jakob the Liar'' is a 1999 American-made Holocaust film directed by Peter Kassovitz, produced by Steven Haft and Marsha Garces Williams. It is written by Kassovitz and Didier Decoin based on the 1969 German novel '' Jacob the Liar'', by Je ...

'' *2002 – ''Robin Williams: Live on Broadway'' *2014 – ''Extinction Soup''

Awards

*1993 –

Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy The Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award that has been awarded annually since 1952 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Eligibility Eligible films must be at least 70 minutes in ...

– ''Mrs Doubtfire'' *2003 – Nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) is a category at the Primetime Emmy Awards. It is awarded annually to the singularly best pre-recorded varietal, musical or comedic special of the year. It was previously pr ...

– ''Robin Williams: Live on Broadway''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Marsha Garces 1956 births American people of Filipino descent American people of Finnish descent American philanthropists American women film producers Businesspeople from Milwaukee Film producers from California Film producers from Wisconsin Golden Globe Award–winning producers Living people Mass media people from San Francisco Philanthropists from Wisconsin Robin Williams Shorewood High School (Wisconsin) alumni