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Billy Crystal: Billie Holiday
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From All Movie Guide: The son of a jazz concert producer, Billy Crystal grew up in the company of such music legends as Billie Holiday, Pee Wee Russell, and Eddy Condon. His mind made up by age five, Crystal knew he wanted to become a performer -- not in music but in baseball or comedy. As he later explained to TV Guide, he chose comedy "because God made me short" -- though from all reports he is one of the best ball players in show business.
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Billy Crystal likes to say that if it hadn't been for his uncle Milt Gabler, he never would have entered show business. The founder of the Commodore Records jazz label influenced more than just Crystal. The music Gabler produced from the 1930s through the 1950s included hit songs by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat "King" Cole and Lionel Hampton.
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Billy Crystal's father owned a record shop, and his uncle was CEO at Commodore Records and later Decca. Billie Holiday was Crystal's babysitter on several occasions. Louis Armstrong once stopped by, and as Crystal tells it, his grandmother asked Armstrong: "Louis", she said, "have you ever tried just clearing your throat, just coughing it up?"
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Billy Crystal's family owned and operated the legendary Commodore label and record store, so Billy Crystal grew up surrounded by music and musicians. His father, Jack, produced concerts by the era’s great jazz performers, including the legendary Billie Holliday. It was his exposure to these great stars that helped Crystal develop a knack for stand-up comedy, incorporating his gifts for mimicry and satire, as well as his ability to create enduring characters who are funny, human, and touching.
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With his father in the music business, Billy was no stranger to some of the top performers of the time. Legends such as Billie Holiday, Pee Wee Russell, and Eddie Condon regularly stopped by the Crystal household.
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Of all the artists Gabler worked with, he felt closest to Billie Holiday, Crystal tells Michele Norris. "Billie was his love. That was, he felt in many ways, his triumph. That relationship was such a special one. She trusted him and he understood her. He knew how to put her on a pedestal.
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