Billy Crystal has spent more than five decades making audiences laugh, but on Monday night in New York, the person he wanted to talk about was his wife. The 78-year-old comedian received the inaugural PaleyFest Award at The Paley Museum on October 12, and Janice Crystal was right there with him.
When HELLO! asked what has kept their marriage going for 56 years, Crystal kept it short. “Ask her,” he said. According to the outlet, he also called Janice the “love of his life” as he accepted the honor.
Billy Crystal and Janice: A Love Story That Started on Long Island
The couple met as teenagers on Long Island and married on June 4, 1970. Crystal has often said he knew right away that she was the one. They raised two daughters, Jennifer and Lindsay, and are now grandparents.
Janice was also one of Crystal’s earliest supporters as he worked to establish himself as a comedian. In a recent interview with People, she recalled listening to him practice material before heading out to comedy clubs, sometimes using their young daughter Jennifer as an audience. If the toddler didn’t laugh, Crystal would worry that his jokes weren’t working. Janice remembered reassuring him that Jennifer was only two years old. More than five decades later, she remains closely involved in his creative life, having produced his Tony Award-winning Broadway production 700 Sundays as well as his latest show, 860.
Their life together took a painful turn in January 2025, when the Palisades Fire destroyed the Pacific Palisades home they had shared for more than four decades. Crystal turned that loss into 860, his new autobiographical one-man show on Broadway. Janice is a producer on it, according to HELLO!
An Evening With Whoopi Goldberg
The award night was built around a conversation moderated by his old friend Whoopi Goldberg. BroadwayWorld reported that the program included a red carpet arrival and a look back at his career alongside talk about the new show.
Goldberg and Crystal’s friendship stretches back to the 1980s, when they teamed up with Robin Williams to host HBO’s Comic Relief specials. The comedians used their fame to raise money and awareness for people experiencing homelessness, bringing together some of the biggest names in entertainment. Their work established a lasting friendship, and in December 2024, Crystal and Goldberg reunited to accept Comic Relief’s inaugural Icon Award, with Williams honored posthumously. The pair have continued supporting each other throughout their careers, making Goldberg a natural choice to help celebrate Crystal’s latest achievement.
Crystal told Extra that writing about the fire helped him process it. “You just be honest about it,” he said. He added that theater has been “one of the saving graces of my career.”
It has been an emotional year for him. In March, he led the Oscars tribute to his late friend, which fans can revisit in our story on Billy Crystal’s Rob Reiner tribute. Asked what he is proudest of now, Crystal gave Extra an answer that sounds a lot like his marriage advice: “That I’m still doing it and still loving it.”
