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After the particularly painful song of ice and snow that was Winter 2013-14, I’m happy to say that the robin in yonder dell is finally chirping “Spring! Spring! Spring!” Yes, the world is puddle-wonderful again and that means that, like any other hibernating animal, I feel an urge to shake off the cold, stretch my legs, and participate in some old-fashioned migration. So windows are rolled down, sleeves are rolled up – it’s time for a good long drive to greener horizons, or most anywhere from here. I raise my face to the sun, and movie fanatic that I am, hear Groucho’s voice ringing in my ears: “Sing ho! For the open highway! Sing ho! For the open road!” (Anyone remember the movie?) Or maybe the strains of Bob Hope – “We’re off on the Road to Morocco!” (Bob – it’s better off-season.)

The lunacy had to end sometime. We just didn't think it would be this week. Robin Williams is dead at 63.     He was best known for his manic comedy work, the sort that moved critics to describe him as a “comic supernova,” but he proved equally adept at tackling dramatic roles. Already Oscar-nominated three times, he finally won a statuette for his warm, nuanced performance in “Good Will Hunting.” As time went on, he seemed to relish appearing in even darker films, such as “One Hour Photo” and “Insomnia.” Many of us got our first glimpse of him in the 1970s ABC sitcom “Mork and Mindy.” Williams played the lovable alien Mork so well that it took years for him to be taken seriously as an actor. His rise on the big screen began in the late 1980s with films like “Good Morning Vietnam” and “Dead Poets Society.” There was no turning back. He became known for playing funny characters who displayed a sensitive side, but he could still unleash the raw improvisational madness for which he was known, such as when he provided the voice of the genie in “Aladdin” or appeared in drag for “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

Katharine Hepburn, whose birthday falls today, remains the only actor or actress to be awarded four Oscars. Yes, Meryl has long since surpassed her on nominations, but Kate still leads on wins. Few people now realize that by the end of 1938, after just six years in Hollywood, pundits were saying Kate was all washed up. In 1939, the year many point to as Hollywood’s finest, Kate didn’t have a single movie credit.  True, she got her first break early enough, as talking pictures in the early ‘30s were always searching for young, attractive Broadway-bred comers who could actually speak. Kate made an auspicious debut in 1932’s “A Bill Of Divorcement," opposite the aging, alcoholic John Barrymore (who played her father).