William Edward "Billy" Crystal (born March 14, 1948) is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian, film director, and baseball player. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes When Harry Met Sally... and City Slickers. Additionally, he has hosted the Academy Awards eight times.

Background

Crystal was born in the Doctor's Hospital in Manhattan and grew up in Long Beach, New York, the son of Helen (née Gabler), a housewife, and Jack Crystal, a record company executive and producer of jazz records, who owned and operated the Commodore Record store. His uncle was musician and songwriter Milt Gabler, and his brother, Richard Crystal, is a television producer. Crystal grew up in a Jewish family that he has described as "large" and "loving". After graduation from Long Beach High School, Crystal attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, on a baseball scholarship, having learned the game from his father, who pitched for St. John's University. Crystal never played a game at Marshall because the program was suspended during his freshman year and he didn't return as a sophomore, staying back in New York with his future wife. He then went on to Nassau Community College, and later attended New York University where he graduated with a B.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1970.

Billy Crystal and his wife Janice have two daughters, actresses Jennifer and Lindsay, and are now grandparents. They reside in Pacific Palisades, California.

Career

Start in television

Crystal returned to New York and performed regularly at The Improv and Catch a Rising Star. He studied film and television direction under Martin Scorsese at New York University. Crystal's earliest prominent role was as Jodie Dallas on Soap, one of the first gay characters portrayed on American television. In 1976, Crystal appeared on an episode of All in the Family. He also was on the dais for the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Muhammad Ali on February 19, 1976 where he made dead-on impersonations of both The Champ and sportscaster Howard Cosell. He was scheduled to appear on the first episode of Saturday Night Live (October 11, 1975), but his sketch was cut. He did do a stand-up bit later on that first season as "Bill Crystal", on the April 17, 1976, episode. After hosting a show years later, in 1984, he joined the cast. His most famous recurring sketch was his parody of Fernando Lamas Fernando, a smarmy talk show host whose catch phrase, "You look... mahvelous!," became a media sensation. Crystal subsequently released an album of his stand-up material titled Mahvelous! in 1985, as well as the extremely popular novelty song "You Look Marvelous" towards the end of the year.

Acting in film and hosting the Oscars

Crystal's first film role was in Joan Rivers's 1978 film Rabbit Test. Crystal also made game show appearances such as The Hollywood Squares, All Star Secrets and The $20,000 Pyramid. He holds the record for getting his contestant partner to the top of the pyramid in the bonus round in the fastest time, 26 seconds.

Crystal appeared briefly in Rob Reiner's 1984 "rockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap as Morty The Mime, a waiter dressed as a mime at one of Spinal Tap's parties. He shared the scene with a then-unknown, non-speaking Dana Carvey. Crystal's line in the film was "Mime is money." Reiner directed Crystal again in The Princess Bride (1987).

Reiner directed Crystal for a third time in the classic romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989), for which Crystal was nominated for a Golden Globe. Many consider Crystal's lead role in this film as his most iconic. Crystal then starred in the buddy comedy City Slickers (1991), which proved very successful both commercially and critically and for which Cystal was nominated for his second Golden Globe.

Following the success of these films, Crystal wrote, directed, and starred in Mr. Saturday Night (1992) and Forget Paris (1995). In the former, Crystal played a serious role in aging makeup, as an egotistical comedian who reflects back on his career. He directed the made-for-television movie 61* (2001) based on Roger Maris's and Mickey Mantle's race to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record in 1961. This earned Crystal an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.

Crystal has continued working in film, including Analyze This (1999) and Analyze That (2002) with Robert De Niro, and in the English version of Howl's Moving Castle as the voice of Calcifer. Pixar originally approached him to provide the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (1995). He turned down that offer, but regretted it after the film became one of the most popular releases of the year. Crystal later went on to provide the voice of Mike Wazowski in the Pixar film, Monsters, Inc. (2001), which was nominated for the inaugural Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Crystal hosted the Academy Awards broadcast in 1990–1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2004; and he reportedly turned down hosting the 2006 ceremony to concentrate on his one-man show, 700 Sundays. His eight times as the M.C. is second only to Bob Hope in most ceremonies hosted.

Broadway

Crystal won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for 700 Sundays, a two-act, one-man play, which he conceived and wrote about his parents and his childhood growing up on Long Island. He toured the U.S. with the show in 2006 and Australia in 2007.

Following the initial success of the play, Crystal wrote the book 700 Sundays for Warner Books, which was published on October 31, 2005. In conjunction with the book and the play that also paid tribute to his uncle, Milt Gabler, Crystal produced two CD compilations: Billy Crystal Presents: The Milt Gabler Story, which featured his uncle's most influential recordings from Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" to "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets; and Billy Remembers Billie featuring Crystal's favorite Holiday recordings.

Philanthropy

In 1986, Crystal started hosting Comic Relief on HBO with Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg. Founded by Bob Zmuda, Comic Relief raises money for homeless people in the United States.

On September 6, 2005, on The Tonight Show, Crystal and Jay Leno were the first celebrities to sign a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to be auctioned off for Gulf Coast relief.

Crystal has participated in the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Portraying himself in a video, Crystal introduces museum guests to the genealogy wing of the museum.

New York Baseball

On March 12, 2008, Crystal signed a minor league contract, for a single day, to play with the New York Yankees, and was invited to the team's major league spring training. He wore uniform number 60, in honor of his upcoming 60th birthday. On March 13, in a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Crystal led off as the designated hitter. He managed to make contact, fouling a fastball up the first base line, but was eventually struck out by Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm on 6 pitches and was later replaced in the batting order by Johnny Damon. He was released on March 14, his 60th birthday.Although a life-long Yankee fan, he has been a part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks since their inception.

In the movie City Slickers, Crystal wears a New York Mets baseball cap.

Awards

In addition to his Golden Globe Award-nominations, Emmy Awards, and Tony Award, Crystal won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for 700 Sundays and received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1977-1981	Soap	Jodie Dallas	TV series
1977	SST: Death Flight	David
1978	Rabbit Test	Lionel Carpenter
1978	Human Feelings	Angel	Made for TV
1980	Animalympics	Lodge Turkell	Voice
1984	This Is Spinal Tap	Morty the Mime
1986	Running Scared	Danny Constanzo
1987	The Princess Bride	Miracle Max
	Throw Momma from the Train	Larry Donner
1988	Memories of Me	Abbie	Writer/Producer
1989	When Harry Met Sally...	Harry Burns	American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1991	City Slickers	Mitch Robbins	Executive Producer American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1992	Horton Hatches the Egg	Narrator	Voice
	Mr. Saturday Night	Buddy Young, Jr.	Writer/Director/Producer Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1994	City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold	Mitch Robbins	Writer/Producer
1995	Forget Paris	Mickey Gordon	Writer/Director/Producer
1996	Hamlet	First Gravedigger
1997	Deconstructing Harry	Larry
	Fathers' Day	Jack Lawrence
	Friends	The Gynecologist (with Robin Williams)	TV Series
1998	My Giant	Sam 'Sammy' Kamin	Writer/Producer
1999	Analyze This	Dr. Ben Sobel	Executive Producer
2000	The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle	Mattress salesman	Uncredited
2001	America's Sweethearts	Lee Phillips	Writer/Producer
	Monsters, Inc.	Michael "Mike" Wazowski	Voice
2002	Mike's New Car	Mike Wazowski	Short Film Subject Voice
	Analyze That	Dr. Ben Sobel	Executive Producer
2005	Howl's Moving Castle	Calcifer	Voice
2006	Cars	Mike Car	Voice
2010	Tooth Fairy	TBA

Saturday Night Live

Characters

• Al Minkman, a shady businessman
• Fernando, host of Fernando's Hideaway, a celebrity interview show; based on actor Fernando Lamas
• Buddy Young, Jr. (an insult comic who appears on Weekend Update)
• Lew Goldman
• Ricky, a bowler
• Tony Minetti, a butcher
• Willie, a man who, along with his friend, Frankie (played by Christopher Guest), discuss their masochistic tendencies

Impersonations

• Fernando Lamas
• Howard Cosell
• Muhammad Ali
• John F. Kennedy
• Joe Franklin
• Hervé Villechaize
• Joe Garagiola
• Adam Ant
• Prince
• Sammy Davis, Jr.

Bibliography

• A children's book.
• A children's book.
• Crystal's memoirs with his father.

References

External links

• Billy Crystal appears on Michael Eisner's talkshow on CNBC