Robin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 21th July 1951. His mother named Laura McLauren, was a former model from New Orleans, Louisiana whereas his father, Robert Williams was a senior executive at Ford Motor. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where he was a student at the Detroit Country Day School,and later moved to Woodacre, Marin County, California, where he attended the public Redwood High School. Williams studied at Claremont McKenna College (then called Claremont Men's College).Williams left Claremont and attained a full scholarship to the esteemed Julliard School.