Billy Crystal Movies and Career Information

William Edward "Billy" Crystal (born March 14, 1948) is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. 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... and City Slickers. Additionally, he has hosted the Academy Awards eight times. Crystal was born in the Doctor's Hospital in Manhattan and grew up in Long Beach, New York, the son of Helen (née Gabler), a housewife, and Jack Crystal, a record company executive and producer of jazz records, who owned and operated the Commodore Record store. His uncle was a musician and songwriter Milt Gabler, and his brother, Richard Crystal, is a television producer. Crystal grew up in a Jewish family that he has described as "large" and "loving". After graduation from Long Beach High School, Crystal attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, on a baseball scholarship, having learned the game from his father, who pitched for St. John's University. Crystal never played a game at Marshall because the program was suspended during his freshman year.