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Billy Crystal
35 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (35)
- #001
One of Billy Crystal's babysitters when he was a child was Billie Holiday.
- #002
Billy Crystal claims that his wife, Janice Crystal, was his first and only date.
- #003
On March 12, 2008, as a gift for his 60th birthday, Billy Crystal signed a one-day minor league contract with the New York Yankees. On March 13, 2008, he played his only game with the Yankees against the Pittsburgh Pirates, wearing number 60 as the designated hitter. In his first and only at-bat, he made contact with a foul ball but completed the at-bat. He received a standing ovation. Just one day later, the Yankees officially released him.
- #004
On May 25, 1992, when Jay Leno took over the late-night throne vacated by Johnny Carson on May 22, 1992, Billy Crystal was Leno's first guest.
- #005
Billy Crystal is a big fan of Zach Braff's sitcom Scrubs (2001) and donated a clip from When Harry Met Sally… (1989) for one episode.
- #006
In his first year, Billy Crystal attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, on a baseball scholarship, but was told upon arriving that freshman baseball had been canceled due to budget cuts. He did not return for his sophomore year, choosing to attend a state university before transferring to NYU.
- #007
Billy Crystal was cast as Rob Reiner's best friend in the All in the Family (1971) episode "New Year's Wedding" (1976), and the two became best friends in real life.
- #008
Billy Crystal appeared in four films with Robin Williams: In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994), Hamlet (1996), Fathers' Day (1997) and Deconstructing Harry (1997), as well as a brief role in Friends (1994).
- #009
In a 2013 interview with ABC News, Billy Crystal stated that Mike Wazowski from Monsters University (2013) and Monsters, Inc. (2001) is his favorite character he has played, because Mike is a little man in a big man's world and because of his sense of optimism and leadership.
- #010
Billy Crystal taught math, woodworking and girls' gym classes at Long Beach High School in Long Beach, New York.
- #011
Billy Crystal was Sammy Davis Jr.'s opening act.
- #012
Billy Crystal is close friends with Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams.
- #013
Billy Crystal auditioned for the role of Jack Tripper on Three's Company (1976), the character of a straight man pretending to be gay. Ironically, he went on to play Jody Dallas on Soap (1977), the first openly gay character on a prime-time television network.
- #014
Billy Crystal received the Kennedy Center's 2007 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
- #015
Billy Crystal's father, Jack Crystal, was a concert promoter who also ran a famous record store on 42nd Street in New York City.
- #016
Billy Crystal wrote the screenplay for America's Sweethearts (2001) long before it went into production. It was a response to the fact that he and Meg Ryan were no longer appearing in a film together. He considered playing the lead role, but when the film was made, the director (Joe Roth) felt Billy was too old to play the lead role of Eddie Thomas, so he took the smaller role of Lee. The role of Eddie Thomas went to John Cusack.
- #017
Billy Crystal is a part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks and has long been a big fan of the New York Yankees. He is also a big fan of the Los Angeles Clippers.
- #018
Billy Crystal collects autographed baseballs and baseball cards.
- #019
Billy Crystal became a grandfather for the first time at age 55 when his daughter Jennifer Crystal Foley gave birth to her daughter Ella Ryan Foley on June 20, 2003.
- #020
Billy Crystal holds a BFA in television from New York University.
- #021
On June 4, 1991, Billy Crystal was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #022
Billy Crystal is one of the few non-African American performers to have done a "blackface" routine on Saturday Night Live (1975), though he performed it entirely in prosthetic makeup and as a realistic, non-stereotypical character.
- #023
Billy Crystal attended and graduated from Long Beach High School in Long Beach, New York; his class of 1965 voted him "Most Popular."
- #024
Billy Crystal directed an actor to an Oscar-nominated performance: David Paymer in Mr. Saturday Night (1992).
- #025
Billy Crystal was considered for the role of Wilbur Turnblad in Hairspray (2007), which went to Christopher Walken.
- #026
Billy Crystal won the 2005 Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event for his one-man show "700 Sundays," described as an "autobiographical journey." In November 2013, Crystal brought the show back to Broadway.
- #027
Billy Crystal is known for hosting the Academy Awards many times. He has also hosted the Emmy Awards.
- #028
Billy Crystal appeared in four films with David Paymer: City Slickers (1991), Mr. Saturday Night (1992), City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994) and In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994).
- #029
Billy Crystal has two daughters with his wife Janice: Jennifer Crystal Foley (b. January 26, 1973) and Lindsay Crystal (b. October 21, 1977).
- #030
Billy Crystal was introduced to his wife by his close friend Steve Kohut.
- #031
Billy Crystal is good friends with Serbian NBA superstar Vlade Divac.
- #032
Billy Crystal studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.
- #033
Billy Crystal's younger daughter, Lindsay Crystal, is a film producer.
- #034
Billy Crystal has two older brothers: Joel and Richard Crystal.
- #035
Billy Crystal's Pacific Palisades family home of 46 years was lost in the Los Angeles wildfires.
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