Actor, comedian, entertainer, and director Billy Crystal – born March 14, 1948,
in New York City, New York – began his career in the 1970s as a stand-up
comedian before rising to prominence in television as a cast member on nighttime
soap opera parody Soap (1977-1981), portraying one of the first unambiguously
gay characters on network TV. He then appeared on episodes of other TV shows
including hosting Saturday Night Live (SNL) twice. Billy Crystal then joined the
cast of SNL for their 1984 / 1985 season. His most popular recurring character
on the show was a talk show host base...