Want to Know This Actor’s Secret to a Long Happy Marriage? ‘Respect, Humor and Honesty’
Movieguide® Contributor
Billy Crystal celebrated 54 years of marriage this year, and he’s got a couple of secrets for those who want to know how it’s lasted so long.
“Respect, humor, honesty, and respect for our lives as individuals and as a couple,” the MONSTERS INC. star told PEOPLE the secret to his long marriage.
“Just enjoy all the time that you have together,” he said. “Through the thin and the thinner.”
The couple met 58 years ago when they were teenagers in Long Beach, N.Y. They got married in 1970 and had two daughters, Jennifer Crystal Foley and Lindsay Crystal.
“Oh, children change everything,” Crystal told PEOPLE. “When I first became a dad back in [1973], Janice was working, and I was starting my career as a stand-up at night. So, during the day, I was ‘Mr. Mom’ and that changed my life totally.”
“The responsibility as a 25-year-old with an infant that can’t get through the day without you,” he continues. “When you learn that you can love something much more than yourself, it was the greatest experience in my life as a person.”
The six-time Emmy winner calls his job as a parent the most important of his life.
“That’s been my total effort of my life is to leave the world with two amazing daughters — grown women now, mothers of their own,” he said. “And that they then teach their children/our four grandchildren what it means the responsibility in our world, which is changing constantly.”
“We still love being together,” he previously told Kelly Clarkson on her talk show. “We just have so much fun and keep discovering new things about each other. And I think that’s the most important thing is to still always be curious and find out more about each other.”
When it comes to how he models his relationship with his wife, Crystal reflects on his parents’ marriage.
“My parents always looked like they loved being together,” he told the outlet. “That’s what I took from them, and that’s how my wife and I are. I still feel like we’re dating.”
“Comedian and actor Billy Crystal added his opinion on the recent push for cancel culture in the entertainment industry.
READ MORE: BILLY CRYSTAL SAYS WE NEED MORE ‘EMPATHY’ AMID THE CURRENT CANCEL CULTURE
Crystal’s latest series, BEFORE, is about to premiere on Apple TV+ next week. In it, Crystal plays a child psychiatrist who grieves the loss of his wife and finds himself connected to a young boy named Noah.
The show fits in the psychological thriller and supernatural mystery genres. Crystal also helped produce the show and told ET he “couldn’t be prouder” of it.
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