Category:
Richest Celebrities › Richest Comedians
Net Worth:
$60 Million
Birthdate:
Mar 14, 1948 (76 years old)
Birthplace:
Upper East Side
Gender:
Male
Height:
5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)
Profession:
Comedian, Actor, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Voice Actor, Film director, Writer, Singer, Television presenter, Television Director
Nationality:
United States of America
Billy Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian, and film director who has a net worth of $60 million. Billy Crystal first gained prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s through his appearances on the television series “Soap” and “Saturday Night Live.” Crystal’s success on the big screen includes memorable roles in films such as “When Harry Met Sally,” “City Slickers,” and “Analyze This.” He has also lent his voice to animated characters, most notably Mike Wazowski in the “Monsters, Inc.” franchise. Throughout his career, Crystal has showcased his versatility as a performer, effortlessly transitioning between comedy and drama. In addition to his acting work, he has hosted the Academy Awards nine times, earning praise for his quick wit and engaging stage presence. Crystal has also written and starred in his own one-man show, “700 Sundays,” which won a Tony Award in 2005. His contributions to the entertainment industry have been recognized with numerous accolades, including several Emmy Awards and a Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
William Edwards Crystal was born on March 14th, 1948, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Although he was first raised in the Bronx, his family relocated to Long Island when he was still a toddler. He grew up alongside two brothers in a Jewish household, and his father was a jazz producer who eventually lost his business in 1963 and died shortly thereafter of a heart attack.
After graduating from high school in Long Beach, Billy traveled to West Virginia to attend Marshall University on a baseball scholarship. However, upon arriving, he learned that the baseball season had been suspended. He decided to leave college after his sophomore year and return to New York City. Once there, he grew closer with his future wife, Janice, and studied acting at the HB Studio. While taking acting classes, he attended Nassau Community College before transferring to New York University.
While at NYU, Crystal studied film and television directing and graduated in 1970 with a BFA from the School of Fine Arts (which would later be renamed the Tisch School of Fine Arts). During this period, Crystal studied under Martin Scorsese and alongside Oliver Stone and Christopher Guest.
Billy Crystal began his career on stage as a comedy act in New York City. Soon enough, he became well known in comedy clubs throughout the city, and he started to appear on television shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” During this early period, he also appeared in several TV game shows. His first big acting role came when he was cast as the unapologetically gay character Jodie Dallas on the hit sitcom “Soap.” He kept his recurring role until the series ended in 1981. Around this time, he also starred in the film “Rabbit Test,” a film that centered around a man who became pregnant.
Although he was briefly given his own variety show in the early 80s, it was quickly canceled. However, he continued to make a name for himself as a TV host on shows like “Saturday Night Live.” In 1986, he returned to the world of film once again with a starring role in the movie “Running Scared.” He also played a strong supporting role in 1987’s “The Princess Bride.” The film was a box office success, and it helped put Billy Crystal on the map.
Crystal became an even bigger star after starring alongside Meg Ryan in the 1989 film “When Harry Met Sally” He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, and the movie has since become a cult classic. The same can be said for Billy’s next movie, “City Slickers.” Once again, the film achieved excellent box office numbers and earned him another Golden Globe nomination.
With an established foothold in the film industry, Crystal was free to try more interesting projects. He wrote, directed, and starred in two films during the early 90s. These were “Mr. Saturday Night,” a movie that showed Crystal’s ability to play serious roles, and “Forget Paris,” a romantic comedy. Towards the end of the 90s, he joined the cast of Woody Allen’s “Deconstructing Harry” and collaborated with Robert De Niro in “Analyze This.”
At the beginning of the 2000s, Crystal appeared in films like “America’s Sweethearts,” “Analyze That,” and “61*.” Having rejected a voice acting role for the character of Buzz Lightyear in 1995’s “Toy Story (much to his later regret), Crystal eagerly accepted the role of Mike Wazowski in 2001’s “Monsters, Inc.” He then continued his voice acting career with a role in the English dub of “Howl’s Moving Castle” in 2004. In 2013, he reprised the role of Mike in the sequel “Monsters University.” In 2015, he booked a lead role in FX’s “The Comedians,” although it was canceled after just one season.
Billy Crystal has hosted the Academy Awards 9 times, spanning from 1990 to 2012. Only Bob Hope has hosted the ceremony more than he has. In recognition of his hosting abilities, Crystal has won two Primetime Emmys for his work on the Academy Awards Ceremony.
As of this writing, Billy has released five books, including 2005’s “700 Sundays”, so named after the estimated number of Sundays he had while his father was alive.
Billy Crystal is also no stranger to stage work, having won a Tony Award for “700 Sundays,” a one-act play that he performed on Broadway in 2005 based on the book of the same name. He later toured throughout 2006 and 2007 with his act and adapted the play into a book. In 2013, he brought the show back to the stage, and HBO filmed the performance for a television special.
Billy Crystal is an especially enthusiastic sports fan with a lifelong love affair with the New York Yankees. He once spent $239,000 on one of Mickey Mantle’s old baseball gloves at an auction. When Crystal was a boy, he managed to get a signature from Mantle after watching him play. When he was approaching the age of 60, the New York Yankees signed him on a one-day contract, and he was allowed to play for the team during a pre-season training game.
Billy married Janice Goldfinger in 1970. They have two daughters, including actress Jennifer Crystal Foley.
Billy and Janice have lived in LA’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood since 1979 and are called honorary mayors of the city. Their home, which was built in 1936, is one of the most-desirable streets in the city and is likely worth $8-10 million today.
