Whoopi Goldberg may be a legend all by herself but her friendship with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal was a thing for the history books.

Hollywood is a place of make-believe where imagination and reality blend into one. But some aspects of this unreal world stand true even beyond the barriers of film and screen.

Whoopi Goldberg’s relationship with industry legends Robin Williams and Billy Crystal is one such truth that remains indisputable even decades down the line.

Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple (1985) [Credit: Warner Bros.]

Introduced to each other through charitable endeavors, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, and Billy Crystal have enjoyed an undefined friendship that surpassed the boundaries set by the industry.

Hollywood, the media, and fans did not dictate the extent of their connection to each other and the trio were never exposed to the scrutiny and criticism that comes with today’s fanfare.

Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams’ untold story

Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robin Williams in Comic Relief [Credit: HBO]

It is not every day that we get a duo as iconic as Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams. Through the years, there have been numerous unlikely friendships in Hollywood that have held up even under the harsh and unforgiving light of the industry.

Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman and Ben Affleck/Matt Damon are just some of the pairs that come to mind.

However, before tabloids and social media made these Hollywood celebrity pairings famous, there was Whoopi Goldberg and the late Robin Williams. The pair met in the 1970s on the comedy circuit as struggling artists.

Despite being relatively unknown to the world, the pair struck a friendship that would last through thick and thin, even after they each grew inconceivably famous.

In 1986, a third joined their unlikely team of two – Billy Crystal. As part of a philanthropic effort to raise awareness for poverty, the trio began to write, direct, and perform in a series of televised comedy specials called Comic Relief.

Together, they believed they could “change the world,” according to Goldberg. The project cast a special light on their friendship which lasted for years until Robin Williams’ tragic suicide in 2014.

Whoopi Goldberg’s reaction to Robin Williams’ death

After the report of Robin Williams’ passing shocked the world, heads turned toward notable celebrity figures close to the actor and comedian to make sense of his sudden demise. As the whole industry mourned, his closest friends and confidantes still struggled with coming to terms with the news.

As a co-host and moderator of The View, Whoopi Goldberg found it fitting to pay tribute to her long-time friend and colleague on the talk show, saying:

He has taken care of me for as long as I can remember. And we aged together and have grown up together. There was nothing we couldn’t do together. Nothing we couldn’t do.

On her 65th birthday, Billy Crystal appeared on The View to remind Goldberg just how special and unique their bond was through the years and the impact they left on the world through their charitable endeavors and proactive initiatives.

Recalling their famous 1990 Senate testimony about homelessness, Crystal said, “We did such great stuff together. So many happy moments… We will always be together in my heart,” to which Goldberg replied, “Yeah, we did, didn’t we? The three of us did some good work.”

In 2018, in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Goldberg emotionally recalled her close bond with Robin Williams, the years they spent together, the memories they created, and the hardships through which they supported each other, saying, “It’s still very hard because I miss him. I miss him terribly.”