History Creator / BillyCrystal

William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, and television host from New York City. He starred on the sitcom ''Series/{{Soap}}'' and in the movies ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'', ''Film/CitySlickers'', ''Film/AnalyzeThis'', and ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''. He has hosted the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardsCeremonies nine times, beginning in 1990 and most recently in 2012.

** ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' (2001)

Crystal also continues to hold (as of 2023) the record for the fastest [[BonusRound Winner's Circle]] ever played on the game show ''Series/{{Pyramid}}'' -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc0ifVlU8t8 the record was set in 26 seconds back in 1977]] (when it was ''The $20,000 Pyramid'').

Crystal was a cast member on the long-running NBC sketch show, ''Saturday Night Live'', during its final season with Dick Ebersol as showrunner (1984 to 1985)[[note]]though NBC did have plans to make that season the last one ever due to Ebersol leaving over creative differences, the possibility of Lorne Michaels never coming back (which was proven false when Michaels' ''The New Show'' tanked on ABC), and critics expressing how tired they were of the show, especially since Eddie Murphy left after season nine[[/note]], though he originally was going to be a performer during the show's first episode back in 1975 (and ended up getting replaced by Andy Kaufman and his famous ''Mighty Mouse'' lip-syncing piece). Crystal is also one in two cast members (joining Creator/MichaelMcKean) to have hosted ''SNL'' before officially joining the cast. His notable recurring characters include Buddy Young, Jr. (an insult comic who's more "insulting" than "comic"), Al Minkman (a scam artist, often paired with Christopher Guest as his brother, Herb), Lew Goldman (a Jewish-American Weekend Update[[note]]or "Saturday Night News" as it was called back then[[/note]] correspondent), and Willie (a security guard who confides in his friend, Frankie[[note]]played by Christopher Guest[[/note]], about painful situations, often commenting, "I hate when that happens!"). His notable celebrity impressions[[note]]some of which would be considered ValuesDissonance today since some of the celebrities he played weren't white and, yes, yellow-, black-, and brownface had to be done to properly achieve the look[[/note]] include Music/{{Prince}}[[note]]back when Prince was a major star for the album ''1999'' and ''Purple Rain'' [both the movie and the soundtrack][[/note]], Fernando Lamas (one of Crystal's most known impressions), Creator/HaingSNgor, UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli (in a sitcom parody of ''Kate & Allie'' called ''Kate & Ali'', where it's Creator/KatharineHepburn[[note]]played by Creator/MartinShort[[/note]] and Muhammad Ali), Howard Cosell, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, and Creator/SammyDavisJr (another of Crystal's most known impressions, and probably the most unrecognizable. See [[http://snlarchives.net/Impressions/?435 here]]).