Hollywood A-lister is unrecognizable at 77 after reunion with fan favorite co-star… can you guess who he is?
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A Hollywood A-lister who has become a national treasure was unrecognizable when he was glimpsed grocery shopping in New York City this week.
The 77-year-old shot to fame as a pioneering gay character on a 1970s sitcom, then made his movie debut in a flop directed by a legendary stand-up comic.
In the 1980s, he starred on one of the most famous TV shows of all time and established himself as a leading man in a string of beloved big screen comedies.
Down the decades, his film roles have ranged from the sidekick in a hit animated children’s franchise to a supporting character from Shakespeare.
Earlier this year, he enjoyed an onstage reunion with a fan-favorite co-star of his while presenting at an awards show he previously hosted.
Can you guess who he is?
A Hollywood A-lister who has become a national treasure was unrecognizable when he was glimpsed grocery shopping in New York City this week
He is none other than Billy Crystal, who presented best picture at this year’s Oscars with Meg Ryan, his leading lady in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally….
Billy got his start as a stand-up comic in 1970s New York and even filmed a sketch for the inaugural episode of what became Saturday Night Live in 1975, though his contribution wound up on the cutting room floor.
His ship came in when he landed the role of Jodie Dallas on the sitcom Soap in 1977, playing one of the first openly gay regular characters on an American TV show.
One year later, he made his movie debut as a pregnant man in Rabbit Test, a wacky comedy that turned out to be the only film ever directed by Joan Rivers.
Although Rabbit Test flopped, his career went from strength to strength as his own stardom grew thanks to his work as a stand-up comic.
He hosted Saturday Night Live twice in 1984 and wound up a regular member of the cast that year, but his individual fame soon took him to greater heights that eclipsed his notoriety from the show.
In 1987 he had a memorable supporting role in The Princess Bride, and acted with Danny DeVito in the latter’s directorial debut Throw Momma from the Train.
Two years later he become a bona fide Hollywood leading man by playing opposite Meg Ryan in the blockbuster romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally…, directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Nora Ephron.
During the 1990s, he began his celebrated run as host of the Oscars, a position he filled nine times between 1990 and his final run in 2012
He is none other than Billy Crystal, who presented best picture at the Oscars this year with Meg Ryan, his leading lady in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally….
He became an A-lister in 1989 by playing opposite Meg in When Harry Met Sally…, which was directed by Rob Reiner from a screenplay by Nora Ephron
His successful movie career continued through the 1990s with comedies like City Slickers and Father’s Day, and even a cameo as one of the gravediggers in the Kenneth Branagh film adaptation of Hamlet.
During that decade, he also directed himself in the dramedy Mr. Saturday Night about a stand-up comic and the romantic comedy Forget Paris opposite Debra Winger.
Also during the 1990s, he began his celebrated run as host of the Oscars, a position he filled nine times between 1990 and his final run in 2012.
In the 2000s he reached a new generation of fans as the voice of Mike, the second banana to John Goodman’s Sulley in Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. franchise.
Billy has continued working in recent years, adapting Mr. Saturday Night into a Broadway musical that he starred in himself in 2022.
He and Meg delighted fans by appearing side by side at the Oscars this year, presenting best picture to Sean Baker’s comedy Anora.
