At Sunday’s 27th annual Critics Choice Awards, legendary comedian and actor Billy Crystal accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from his peer Jimmy Kimmel.

Introducing Crystal, Kimmel joked about how superior the Critics Choice Awards are to the People’s Choice Awards, saying “the people are kinda stupid.” 

Kimmel sang the praises of Crystal’s television, film, and comedy career, noting how additionally he has helped raise more than $80 million for Comic Relief, a charity collecting funds for those in need, particularly the homeless. 

Kimmel also noted how he thinks Crystal did the Oscars hosting gig (which he’s hosted nine times) “better than anybody.“

In his acceptance speech, Crystal thanked Kimmel but clarified, “I’d asked for Jimmy Fallon.”He continued: “Watching those clips just now [in his introductory sizzle reel] made me think of one word: residuals.“

The 74-year-old talked about how he’s been working for 50 years, but added the most exciting thing about that is “there’s so much more to come.” Speaking of his upcoming new Broadway show Mr. Saturday Night, he said “I can’t remember when I worked harder or had more fun on a project, and I’m serious.“

In an emotional speech, Crystal talked about his Russian and Ukrainian heritage and the laughter of his family elders, saying, “I thank you for this, but I dedicate this award to those amazing people in our living room back in Long Beach, Long Island, whose laughter and joy started this 5–year-old boy on his way to this moment. And as we all have thought about and spoken about tonight, I pray that somehow, someway, there can be laughter and joy in that part of the world once again.”

Crystal also thanked his wife and children: “To me, it’s a creative achievement award. My lifetime award is my family.” His speech closed with a quote from Muhammad Ali: “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.”

Before moving into television, the crystalBefore moving into television, crystal began his career in comedy clubs with a recurring role on Soap in 1977, playing one of the first openly gay characters on television. HeHe hosted and then joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, making iconic the talk-show host character Fernando. 

Speaking to press backstage after accepting his award, Crystal was asked about his historic role playing a gay man on Soap: “We did the pilot in 1976,” he recalled. 

“We made a sympathetic, strong guy. I think the real victory of Jodie [Dallas], I think it was season 3, he had fathered a child in a one-night thing and it was a court case, she was trying to get custody. And ABC did a poll, and overwhelmingly, the country wanted Jodie to get the baby and I thought, that’s the victory. That was the victory.”

Renaissance man Billy Crystal would rightfully earn his place as one of Hollywood’s most endearing stars throughout his career. Comedian-actor-writer-director-producer-emcee, and even major league ballplayer, were all hats the perpetually peppy entertainer wore at one time or another. 

Cutting his comedic teeth as a young boy while he and his older brothers learned to “work the room” performing for the family at home in New York, Crystal would be prowling the comedy clubs of the city by his late teens. 

He made a name for himself on television, most notably as a mid-1980s cast member of “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 1975- ) and with two HBO comedy specials. It was in film favorites like “When Harry Met Sally” (1989) and “City Slickers” (1991) where Crystal solidified his status as a full-fledged movie star. 

As a frequent host of the annual Academy Awards, Crystal also regarded himself as arguably the best emcee the ceremony had ever had, save Bob Hope. 

In addition to onscreen efforts such as “Analyze This” (1999), Crystal would lend his vocal talents to the Disney/Pixar mega-hit “Monsters, Inc.” (2001). In 2004, Crystal mounted a one-man Broadway show dedicated to the memory of his late father, and in 2008 even realized his childhood dream of playing a game as a New York Yankee. 

As either a performer or a personality, Crystal remained one of the most versatile, prolific, and beloved figures in entertainment.

The star has won five Primetime Emmys, including his writing and hosting of the Academy Awards. Additionally, he has another 14 Emmy nominations, covering writing, performing, directing, and producing categories. 

Crystal has also hosted the Grammy Awards three times and was the 2007 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. He won a Tony for his one-man show, 2004’s 700 Sundays, and a live taping of the piece aired on HBO and received four Emmy nominations. 

During this time, Crystal continued to act in films. His later credits included the family comedy Parental Guidance (2012), the Monsters, Inc. sequel Monsters University (2013), the drama Untogether (2018), and Standing Up, Falling Down (2019), about a failed stand-up comedian who befriends an alcoholic dermatologist. 

He also directed, co-wrote, and starred in Here Today (2021), about the friendship between a comedy writer in the early stages of dementia and a much-younger singer (Tiffany Hadish). 

In 2015 Crystal co-created and starred in The Comedians’ TV sitcom, which was canceled after one season. He also wrote an additional autobiography, Still Foolin” Em: Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys? (2013).