Billy Crystal is a prominent American personality who gained an international audience for excelling in several fields of endeavor. Besides acting, Crystal banks as a TV host, author, producer, comedian, director, and actor. He was launched into large-scale success in the 1970s for playing the fictional character Jodie Dallas on the sitcom Soap. Billy’s film career in Hollywood brought him so much success in the late 1980s and 1990s, when he appeared in universally acclaimed blockbusters such as City Slickers (1991), When Harry Met Sally… (1989), Analyze This (1999), and several others. Some of his television shows include Saturday Night Live (since 1975), The Comedians (2015), The Critic (1994 – 1995), and others.
Stuffed to the brim, the superstar has also played host to the Academy Awards from 1990 to 1993, then in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004, and most recently in 2012, following Eddie Murphy’s resignation as the event’s host.
Billy Crystal Bio, (Age)
Billy’s real name is Williams Edward Crystal. He was born at Doctors Hospital on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on March 14, 1948, in Manhattan, New York, to Jack Crystal, a producer/jazz promoter/music executive/owner and manager of the Commodore Music Store, and Helen Crystal, a housewife. The Commodore Music Store was founded by Helen’s father, Julius Gabler while Commodore Records, a jazz record label was established by Helen’s brother, Milt Gabler, who is a songwriter and musician. Billy’s father was an executive in both companies.
Billy was brought up in The Bronx alongside his older brothers, Richard Crystal and Joel Crystal. His family is Jewish, having moved to the U.S from Russia and Austria. The actor’s dad’s business crashed in 1963, after which he died in the same year at the age of 54 from a heart attack he suffered while bowling (Jack played baseball for St. John’s University). Helen, Billy’s mother, died in 2001.
Crystal completed his high school education in 1965 at Long Beach High School and later joined Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia via a baseball scholarship. He learned the sports from his dad but never played for his college because the game was banned in his freshman year. Upon entering his second year, Billy decided to stay in New York in other to be closer to his future wife. He eventually enrolled at Nassau Community College with Goldfinger and later moved to New York University, where he began working as a TV/film directing major. He completed his studies at the university in 1970 and was awarded a BFA from the school’s Fine Arts department (by that time, the department had not been renamed Tisch School of the Arts).
What’s His Net Worth?
In all fairness, there is no doubt that Billy’s hard work has been quite rewarding. He has been able to excel in more than one field of interest, carving out a niche for himself and standing out as one of showbiz’s multi-hyphenate personalities. From his roles in entertainment, Crystal has successfully built a net worth of $45 million.
Family – Wife
Billy Crystal took the big step of sealing his love for his longtime sweetheart and confirming his decision to make her his better half for the rest of his life in the year 1970. The comedian’s marital relationship with his wife has been blissful over the years and has also produced two lovely daughters named Jennifer Amie Crystal Foley and Lindsay Crystal.
Billy’s wife, Janice Louise Goldfinger, is an actress and a film director as well. His eldest daughter, Jennifer is an actress famed for her roles in the television series, House and Once and Again, having launched her Hollywood career in 1991. A product of Northwestern University, Jennifer was born January 26, 1973, in Los Angeles, California. She has been married to her college sweetheart, Michael Foley since 2000 and the two share two daughters named Dylan Frances Foley (born February 3, 2006) and Ella Ryan Foley (born June 20, 2003).
Crystal’s youngest child, Lindsay is a television producer and director whose timeline boasts of her several projects in the showbiz, which include City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (1994), My Uncle Berns (2003), and City Slickers (1991). She was born on October 21, 1977, in Los Angeles County, California, in the United States.
Height – How Tall Is Billy Crystal?
Billy Crystal has an amazing physique as you would expect of someone who plies his trade in the showbiz circle. The multi-hyphenate stands at a height of 5 feet 7 inches or 1.7 in metric units and weighs 154 pounds or 70 kilograms. He may not be the tallest actor you’ve ever met but his stature has never posed any challenge to his flourishing career.
Other Facts About The TV Personality
1. Billy Crystal currently lives in Pacific Palisades, California, in the U.S with his wife.
2. Martin Scorsese was one of the actor’s instructors at the New York University while Christopher Guest and Oliver Stone were among his classmates.
3. Billy has been nominated for twenty-two Emmy awards and emerged the winner six times. Over the course of his career, he has won a total of 32 awards.
4. He is a die-hard fan of the Los Angeles-based basketball team, The Los Angeles Clippers.
5. He made his debut film appearance in the 1978 film Rabbit Test.
