Billy Crystal Received a Phone Call From Johnny Carson in 1998 That ‘Almost Still Moves Him to Tears’
The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson called Hollywood icon Billy Crystal to congratulate him on an accomplishment in 1998, and the memory “almost still” makes Crystal cry.
The late-night luminary was a “superstar” to the City Slickers actor, so he spent much of the time he knew him in awe. However, their relationship changed after Carson reached out and “went on and on” with compliments.
It became a memorable moment for Crystal, comparable to playing catch with a baseball legend. It was one of a couple of nods he received from Carson, along with a “wonderful” gift and a plan to get together that unfortunately never came to fruition.
Billy Crystal was ‘always in awe’ of Johnny Carson
Crystal opened up about his relationship with Carson on The Friars Club Podcast hosted by Joe Sibilia. He said that The Tonight Show host was an “iconic superstar” and added, “I’m not sure if I ever got to know Johnny. … Until the very end of his run, I was always in awe of him.”
“[Carson] helped ignite my comedy chops because he was just so great,” Crystal offered. He remembered his first appearance on The Tonight Show and being awestruck as the host used pencils to drum with the band during a commercial break.
But even after Crystal made a name for himself, he was in disbelief when Carson reached out with a personal note.
Billy Crystal ‘broke out in a sweat’ when Johnny Carson called him
A seeming turning point in the relationship between Crystal and Carson came when the legendary host reached out. Crystal said on The Friars Club Podcast it “almost still moves [him] to tears.”
The call came after Crystal hosted the Oscars in 1998. He recalled, “[It] was a particularly good show, and I was really ‘on’ that night. … It was one of them I’m more proud of. It’s actually, to this day, the highest-rated show the Oscars has ever had.”
Crystal said he hardly slept after the show. Then, early the following day, his assistant called and told him, “Johnny Carson’s on the phone.”
He guessed that a comedian like Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short was playing a trick, but his assistant confirmed that it was Carson on the call. He joked he “broke out into a sweat like Albert Brooks in Broadcast News” after that.
Crystal said Carson “went on and on about how much he’d loved” what the When Harry Met Sally star had always done with his Oscars hosting gigs. “Couldn’t have been more complimentary,” he shared, noting it was a memorable moment for him in the same league as playing catch with baseball legend Mickey Mantle.
“That meant everything to me,” he said of the call.
Billy Crystal received a ‘wonderful’ gift from Johnny Carson
When a movie Crystal directed about Mantle and Roger Maris called 61* debuted on HBO, he got another call from the late-night legend. “I’m sending you something I want you to take a look at,” he recalled Carson saying before adding, “No one has seen this in years. Let me know when you get it.”
It was a DVD of a clip of Carson from 1962 pitching to Mantle at Yankee Stadium in New York for a bit from The Tonight Show. Crystal noted, “It’s a wonderful piece of video, and he said, ‘I just wanted you to have that.'”
Crystal said they spoke again after Carson had a severe heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery. They planned to get together but, sadly, didn’t get the chance before the television icon’s death at 79 in 2005.
