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The following biography
is from
Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
Billy Crystal (born March 14, 1947 in Long
Beach, New York) is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and
film director.
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Personal Life
Crystal is the son of American Jewish parents Jack
and Helen Crystal. His father worked at, and later managed, the Commodore Music
Shop. His uncle was record producer Milt Gabler. He went to 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, however 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 has been married to Janice Goldfinger, with whom he has two
daughters, since 1970. He is a very devoted Los Angeles Clippers fan.
Career
Crystal returned to New York and 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.
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. [1] After hosting a show years later, in 1984, he joined the cast. His
most famous recurring sketch was his parody of Fernando Lamas. Crystal's
"Fernando" is a smarmy talk show host whose catch phrase, "You look mahvelous!"
became a media sensation.
He 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. Eventually, Reiner directed Crystal again in The Princess
Bride and then in the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally..., for which Crystal
was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Crystal also made game show appearances such as The
Hollywood Squares 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 which is 26 seconds.
Crystal wrote, directed and starred in Forget Paris
(1995) and Mr. Saturday Night (1992). He directed the made for television movie
61* based on Roger Maris 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.
In 1986, Crystal started hosting Comic Relief on
HBO with Robin Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg. Comic Relief, which was founded in
1986 by Andy Kaufman sidekick Bob Zmuda, raises money for homeless men, women
and children in the United States.
Crystal hosted the Academy Awards broadcast in
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2004, and, apparently, turned down
the opportunity to host the 2006 ceremony wanting to concentrate on his one-man
show.
During the 1992 Academy Awards broadcast, Crystal
at one point during the show, looked squarely at the camera and said, "Didn't
inhale", a commentary on then Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (who had
claimed that he "didn't inhale" when smoking marijuana). The line is considered
by some as one of the funniest lines in Academy Awards history.
Crystal continued working, appearing in popular
films such as Deconstructing Harry and then Analyze This with Robert De Niro.
Analyze This even had a sequel, where both Crystal and De Niro returned, called
Analyze That.
Crystal is preparing for the national tour of his
hit solo show 700 Sundays. The two-act play, which he conceived and wrote, is
about his parents and his childhood growing up on Long Island. Crystal won the
2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for 700 Sundays and will bring
the show back to Broadway for a limited run in 2006.
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, which also paid tribute to
Gabler, Crystal produced two CD compilations: Billy Crystal Presents: The Milt
Gabler Story featured the most influential recordings his uncle produced from
Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" to "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His
Comets; Billy Remembers Billie featured Crystal's favorite Holiday recordings.
Crystal has lend his voice to an animated character
in 2001's Monsters, Inc. as the voice of Mike, and in the English version of
Howl's Moving Castle as the voice of Calcifer.
On Tuesday 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.
Filmography
Rabbit Test - (1978) as "Lionel Carpenter"
Animalympics - (1980) (voiceover) as "Lodge
Turkell"
This Is Spinal Tap - (1984) as "Morty the Mime"
Running Scared - (1986) as "Danny Costanzo"
The Princess Bride - (1987) as "Miracle Max"
Throw Momma from the Train - (1987) as "Larry
Donner"
Memories of Me - (1988) as Abbie
When Harry Met Sally... - (1989) as "Harry Burns"
City Slickers (1991) as "Mitch Robbins"
Horton Hatches the Egg (1992) narrator (voice)
Mr. Saturday Night (1992) as "Buddy Young, Jr."
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
as "Mitch Robbins"
Forget Paris (1995) as "Mickey Gordon" (also
directed by Billy Crystal)
Hamlet (1996) as "First Gravedigger"
Deconstructing Harry (1997) as "Larry/The Devil"
Father's Day (1997) as "Jack Lawrence"
My Giant (1998) as "Sam 'Sammy' Kamin"
Analyze This (1999) as "Ben Sobel, M.D."
America's Sweethearts (2001) as "Lee Phillips"
Monsters, Inc. (2001) as "Michael (Mike) Wazowski"
(voice)
Analyze That (2002) as "Ben Sobel, M.D."
Howl's Moving Castle (2005) as "Calcifer" (voice)
Have a Nice Day (2006)
Cars (2006) (cameo voice)
Bibliography
I Already Know I Love You (2004) A children's book.
grandpa's little one (2006) A children's book.
* *
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Date Article Copied:
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