Billy Crystal

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Billy Crystal
Birth name	Israel William Krisstalsterne
Born	March 14, 1948 (age 59) Long Beach, New York, New York, USA
Spouse(s)	Janice Crystal (m Jun 4 1970, present) 2 children

William Jacob Crystal (born Israel William Krisstalsterne on March 14, 1948 in Long Beach, New York), known as Billy Crystal, is a Golden Globe Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Jewish American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 Recurring Characters on SNL 5 Celebrity Impersonations on SNL 6 Bibliography 7 External links

[edit] Personal life

Crystal was born in Long Beach, New York. He is a very devoted New York Yankees and Los Angeles Clippers fan.

[edit] 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. 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.

Crystal's first film role was in Joan Rivers' 1978 film Rabbit Test. He later 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 Dana Carvey, who didn't speak. Crystal's memorable line in the film was "Mime is money." 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. He is second only to legendary Oscar host, Bob Hope, in most ceremonies hosted.

Crystal continued working, appearing in popular films such as Deconstructing Harry with Woody Allen 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 won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for 700 Sundays, a two-act play, which he conceived and wrote about his parents and his childhood growing up on Long Island. In 2006 he toured the US with the show, and in 2007 he toured Australia.

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 lent his voice to Pixar's animated feature film Monsters, Inc. as the voice of Mike Wazowski, and in the English version of Howl's Moving Castle as the voice of Calcifer. Pixar had originally approached him to provide the voice of Buzz Lightyear, but he turned down their offer, something he regretted later.

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.

[edit] 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"
• Fathers' 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 (film) (2005) as "Calcifer" (voice)
• Cars (2006) (cameo voice)

[edit] Recurring Characters on SNL

• Al Minkman, a shady businessman
• 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

[edit] Celebrity Impersonations on SNL

• Haing S. Ngor
• Fernando Lamas (one of his most well-known impressions on SNL during his year-long tenure on the show)
• Hervé Villechaize
• Howard Cosell
• Joe Franklin
• Joe Garagiola
• John F. Kennedy
• Muhammed Ali
• Prince
• Sammy Davis, Jr. (in what's considered to be SNL's most flawless celebrity impersonation [1])

[edit] Bibliography

• I Already Know I Love You (2004) A children's book.
• grandpa's little one (2006) A children's book.

[edit] External links

• Billy Crystal at the Notable Names Database
• Billy Crystal at the Internet Movie Database
• Billy Crystal at TV.com
• Billy Crystal appears on Michael Eisner's talkshow on CNBC

Preceded by Chevy Chase 60th Academy Awards	Oscars host 62nd, 63rd, 64th, and 65th Academy Awards	Succeeded by Whoopi Goldberg 66th Academy Awards
Preceded by Whoopi Goldberg 68th Academy Awards	Oscars host 69th and 70th Academy Awards	Succeeded by Whoopi Goldberg 71st Academy Awards
Preceded by Whoopi Goldberg 71st Academy Awards	Oscars host 72nd Academy Awards	Succeeded by Steve Martin 73rd Academy Awards
Preceded by Steve Martin 75th Academy Awards	Oscars host 76th Academy Awards	Succeeded by Chris Rock 77th Academy Awards