All All. Sign In. Monsters University premiere. List activity. Billy Crystal. Actor Writer Producer Forget Paris He is the youngest of three sons born to Helen Gabler and Jack Crystal.
His father was a well-known concert promoter who co-founded Commodore Records and his mother was a homemaker. His family were Jewish emigrants from Russia, Austria, and Lithuania. With his father in the music business, Billy was no stranger to some of the top performers of the time.
At age 15, Billy faced a personal tragedy when his father died of a heart attack at the relatively young age of This gave Billy a real appreciation of what his dad was able to accomplish while alive and what his mother did to keep the family together. Despite this tragedy, Billy was very upbeat and likable as a kid. He had a unique talent for making people laugh.
He started doing stand-up comedy at the age of However, his real dream was to be a professional baseball player. His idol growing up was Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle. He spent long hours in the summers playing softball in the middle of Park Avenue with his brothers and his father, a former pitcher at St. John's University. At Long Beach High, Billy played second base and was varsity captain in his senior year.
This earned him a baseball scholarship from Marshall University in West Virginia which he accepted. However, he would never end up playing a game as the baseball program was suspended during his freshman year.
