Billy Crystal Biography
Born: March 14, 1947
The son of a jazz concert producer, Billy Crystal grew up in the company of such music legends as Billie_Holiday, Pee_Wee_Russell, and Eddy Condon. His mind made up by age five, Crystal knew he wanted to become a performer -- not in music but in baseball or comedy. As he later explained to TV Guide, he chose comedy "because God made me short" -- though from all reports he is one of the best ball players in show business.
Learning how to make people laugh by studying the works of past masters Laurel and Hardy, Ernie_Kovacs, and Jonathan_Winters, Crystal began making the club rounds at 16. He was sidetracked briefly by New York University's film school, where he studied to be a director under Martin_Scorsese, but upon graduation it was back to comedy when Crystal formed his own troupe, 3's Company. On his own, he developed into an "observational" comic, humor based on his own experiences and the collective experiences of his audience. He came to media attention via his impression of Howard_Cosell interviewing Muhammad_Ali. After doing time as an opening act for such musicians as Barry_Manilow, Crystal struck out for Hollywood, in hopes of finding regular work on a TV series. In 1977, he was hired to play the gay character Jodie Dallas on Soap. Though many people expected the performer to be typecast in this sort of part, he transcended the "sissy" stereotype, making the character so three-dimensional that audiences and potential employers were fully aware that there was more to Crystal's talent than what they saw in Jodie.
Thanks to Soap, Crystal became and remained a headliner and, in 1978, had his first crack at movie stardom as a pregnant man in Rabbit_Test. The movie was unsuccessful, but Crystal's star had not been eclipsed by the experience; he was even entrusted with a dramatic role in the 1980 TV movie Enola_Gay. His career accelerating with comedy records, choice club dates, regular appearances on Saturday_Night_Live, and TV guest shots, Crystal had a more successful stab at the movies in such films as This is Spinal Tap (1984), The_Princess_Bride (1987), Throw Momma From the Train (1987), and When_Harry_Met_Sally (1989). Riding high after a memorable emceeing stint at the Oscar ceremony, Crystal executive produced and starred in his most successful film project to date, an uproarious middle-age-angst comedy called City_Slickers (1991). In 1992, he mounted his most ambitious film endeavor, Mr._Saturday_Night, the bittersweet chronicle of a self-destructive comedian. The film had great potential (as indicated by the outtakes contained in its video cassette version), but the end result died at the box office. That same year, Crystal again hosted the Oscar awards, and in 1994 he repeated his earlier success with the popular sequel City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly's Gold.
Crystal added to his directing credits the following year with the romantic comedy Forget_Paris. Unfortunately, the film -- which he also produced, wrote, and starred in -- was something of a flop. He subsequently focused his energies on acting, turning up in Hamlet (1996) and Deconstructing_Harry (1997). In 1998 he had another producing stint with My_Giant, a comedy he also starred in; like his previous producing effort, that film also proved fairly unsuccessful. However, Crystal bounced back in 1999, executive producing and starring in Analyze_This. A comedy about a mob boss, Robert_De_Niro, seeking therapy from a psychiatrist (Crystal), it won a number of positive reviews, convincing many that the performer was back in his element.
Back in the director's chair in 2001, Crystal helmed the made-for-HBO 61*. Detailing the 1961 home-run race between Roger_Maris and Mickey_Mantle, 61* struck a chord with baseball sentimentalists and critics alike. Scripting and starring in America's_Sweethearts the same year, Crystal soon began to prepare for his vocal role in the animated comedy fantasy Monsters,_Inc. Hal Erickson, Rovi
Browse More Actors:
