This month, Williams is back, playing a typically Robinesque character in License to Wed: Reverend Frank is a spunky man of the cloth who won't bless a couple's marriage until they pass his patented, foolproof marriage-prep course, which consists of outrageous classes, outlandish homework assignments, and some outright invasion of privacy.
 
But despite his success, he has never forgotten or forsaken his city by the bay.

"Noooooo!" he says emphatically when I ask him if he would ever leave. "You mean leaving - living someplace else? With global warming, I think I'll stay as long as possible. It'll be the glass-bottomed tour of the marina, but it'll still be interesting."

Here's a rare glimpse of the funnyman at bay.

Tell us about your first glimpse of the city.
I was 16 years old. My father and mother [and I] had driven across the country. As we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, there was actually fog pouring in. I'd never seen fog in my life. Is that poison gas? No. The way it pours over the hills in Marin County and comes over the Gate - it's quite impressive. That was my first impression - what is this strange smoke?! But it was quite beautiful, seeing the bridge. In Detroit, there aren't many things that are that big. I was also struck that quite close to the city, there's all this nature. Mount Tamalpais State Park. We have the whole coastline - extraordinarily beautiful.

Was it what you expected?
I don't know. The thing that struck me was how beautiful it was. It's on hills, number one. At that point, they hadn't built the larger buildings like the Transamerica Pyramid, which everyone hated in the beginning and which has now turned out to be the one distinguishing building on the skyline. I was struck by that and the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, and this idea of being that close to the water, and the fact that it is this port that's combined with a great openness, both emotionally and physically. Once you walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, it's an extraordinary experience to look out. It's the gateway to America from Asia, from the Pacific. And there are days when it is so beautiful that you're just struck by it.

Where did you live when you first arrived?