Heartwarming Story of Pat Morita Being Helped and How He Paid It Forward To Robin Williams

Here’s a wonderful heartwarming story of how Pat Morita was helped early on in his life and career by Redd Foxx, and how Morita took that generosity and paid it forward to Robin Williams.

This short video comes from Nick Ragone of This Date in History, and in it, we learn that when Morita was a struggling comic, he met Redd Foxx, who he became good friends with.

To help Morita’s career, Foxx gave him a role on Sanford and Son and there was a time when Morita was buying a house, but didn’t have the down payment. So, Foxx gave him $3500 to help and told Morita that instead of paying it back, he must pay it forward.

Years later in San Francisco, Morita saw a young Robin Williams perform and was joking about his financial situation. After the show, Morita gave him $3500 to help him, and told Williams to pay it forward, which Williams did.

I love this story and you can watch it told in the short video below.