During his speech at the Critics' Choice Awards, Billy Crystal jokes about turning 74

Key Takeaways:

• The 73-year-old actor received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night.
• The 27th annual Critics Choice Awards, hosted by Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer, will air live on The CW and TBS on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

Billy Crystal is finally getting the credit he deserves.

At the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night, the 73-year-old actor was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Lauren Bacall, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy, and Robert Wise are the only other stars to have received the award in the show's history.

In his acceptance speech, he began, "I want to thank you for this wonderful award." "To all the naysayers, this could be the first time we agree on something."

"Watching those clips made me think of one word: that is, residuals," Crystal said, referring to a montage from his career that played before his speech.

"I had so many great moments, and I want to thank everyone who was a part of them in any capacity... Throughout my 50-year career, I've been so fortunate to work with such wonderful people. What excites me is that there is still so much more to come; that is what excites me at this point in my life.

"My birthday is tomorrow, and I'll be 74 years old," he said, "and as Jimmy mentioned, I'm about to access in a Broadway musical," referring to the upcoming production of Mr. Saturday Night.

"I honestly can't recall working harder or having more fun on a project." He joked, "I'll be 74 tomorrow, and I just can't remember."

"Funny people, entertainers, begin by making our parents, family, and friends laugh. "Watching them get laughs created me want to get laughs," he explained. "I was raised in a time... when television was this new frontier, and it was the comics that settled it."

"So, before I knew it, I was standing on a coffee table, imitating my relatives, who were these happy souls, many of whom were from... Russia; my grandmothers were from Odessa and Kyiv, respectively. They fled the pogroms to seek refuge in America, where they could live free of oppression. And their laughter, the first laughs I ever received, is the fuel that keeps my engine running to this day.

"I dedicate this award to those incredible people in our living room in Long Ridge, Long Island, whose laughter and joy set this five-year-old boy on his path to this moment," he said as he clutched his award. "I hope and pray that laughter and joy can return to that part of the world in some way."

"My lifetime achievement award goes to my family," Crystal said, announcing his and his wife's upcoming 52nd wedding anniversary. "If my mind can concoct it, and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it," he said at the end of his speech, quoting Muhammad Ali.

Crystal is best known for his role as Mike Wazowski in Disney/Monsters, Pixar's Inc. in 1989's When Harry Met Sally..., 1991's City Slickers, and 1999's Analyze This. The writer/director is also a former cast member of Saturday Night Live and has hosted the Academy Awards nine times.

Crystal returns to Broadway for Mr. Saturday Night's musical comedy, which opens on April 27. He directed Here Today last year, in which he costarred with Tiffany Haddish.

"I love the reality that I'm going to be 72 as well as I have a great chapter 2-and-a-half," Crystal told a source in 2020.

"I'm at a point where I'm really happy with my work. I'm just grateful for the opportunities to try new things. I also enjoy being approached by great young talent simply to say hello and chat. "He went on to say more before mentioning his film Here Today.

He continued, "I consider myself extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to do so at this time. Every day, you think to yourself, "All right, I've got something to do." And that's a wonderful sensation."

The 27th annual Critics Choice Awards will air live on The CW and TBS on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, hosted by Taye Diggs and Nicole Byer.