Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, director, comedian and television host. 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..., City Slickers, and Analyze Thisand providing the voice of Mike Wazowski in the Monsters, Inc. franchise...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth14 March 1948
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I'd like to think there is a Heaven, and it starts from the happiest day in your life.
I always was a performer, from the time I was little. It was always a natural place for me to be.
I was a film-directing major at NYU. I'm still not sure why I became a directing major, when I was really an actor and a comedian, but there was something that drew me to doing that.
You give up your dream, you give up.
When you realize you want to invest the rest of your lifestyle with somebody, you want the rest of your life to commence as quickly as achievable.
If you do something for the first time, you will always remember it. If your Dad has something to do with it, you write about it.
Dad had a music store, and he'd often bring home comedy albums that I would listen to. I started listening to Bob Newhart and Bill Cosby, and developing taste. They really influenced my style of comedy.
I'm comfortable being old... being black... being Jewish.
Nobody is more truthful when he's acting than De Niro.
You have to really respect what your kids are doing with their kids and how they're raising them. You can't push your way into areas where you shouldn't be saying anything. You have to always remember they're not your own kids. Play with them, love them, spoil them to death - then hand them back.
When I've gotten criticism, it's that it's too long, too soft, didn't hit the government hard enough. Then when I do hit the government, they go, What's he doing hitting the government?
I'm going to go on just living and laughing and loving.
The house as I say ... smelled of brisket and bourbon, so you could hear that. I started imitating them. Phrases came out of that, "Can't you dig that?" "I knew that you would." We were at [Passover] Seders and they were confused with the bitter herbs, "Do we smoke these or do we do we dip them in salt water?" "We dip them in salt water, well that's gonna kill the vibrancy of the weed, you know." So that's what I was around. So I would imitate them. That's where it all started.
The inspiration was this great group of 40 or 50 relatives, sometimes for Thanksgiving or Passover or something and my brothers would just go up and make them laugh.