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"He could be funny anywhere. We were such close friends," Billy Crystal said of Robin Williams in a special tribute to the comedian aired midway through the Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles last night (25 August).
"He made us laugh. Hard. Every time you saw him - on television, movies, nightclubs, arenas, hospitals, homeless shelters for our troops overseas. And even in a dying girl's living room for her last wish, he made us laugh. Big time.
"I spent many happy hours with Robin on stage," he continued. "The brilliance was astounding. The relentless energy was kind of thrilling. I used to think if I could just put a saddle on him and stay on him for eight seconds I was going to do OK.
"It is very hard to talk about him in the past because he was so present in all of our lives. For almost 40 years he was the brightest star in the comedy galaxy.
"And the glow will be so bright it will warm your heart and will make your eyes glisten and you will think to yourselves, 'Robin Williams. What a concept.'"
And for the most part, the audience at home and in the Nokia Theatre crowd appeared visibly moved by the segment.
That is until the honour ended in a series of clips of the comedian in action, cracking jokes during televised interviews and in stand-up.
In particular, it included a short snippet of a stand-up performance during which Williams borrows a pink scarf from an audience member in the front row and wraps its round his head to simulate a Hijab, or Islamic headscarf.
66th Primetime Emmy Awards: On the red carpet
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"I would like to welcome you to Iran… Help me!" he cries.
Viewers participating over Twitter were quick to criticise the inclusion of the joke as "racist":
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