William Edward "Billy" Crystal 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. He has already hosted the Academy Awards eight times, and has taken over the hosting duties of the 84th Awards following the resignation of Eddie Murphy. Crystal was born in the Doctor's Hospital in Manhattan and raised in Long Beach, New York, the son of... Helen , a housewife, and Jack Crystal, a record company executive and jazz producer who also owned and operated the Commodore Record store. His uncle was musician and songwriter Milt Gabler, and his brother, Richard "Rip" 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.
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