Comedy icon Billy Crystal was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award during the Critics Choice awards on Sunday night, and got heart warmingly sentimental in the process, calling his family his true lifetime achievement.
Crystal dedicated his award to his wife, with whom he’ll be celebrating 52 years of marriage with later this year, and his family.
“This is a lifetime achievement award, which is a little scary when they say they want to give it to you,” Crystal joked. “So I called my doctor and said ‘Do they know something that I don’t?’ But to me, everybody it’s a creative achievement award. My lifetime achievement award is my family.”
Of course, Crystal made sure to get plenty of jokes in too. Jimmy Kimmel was on hand to introduce Crystal and present the award — Crystal was Kimmel’s first celebrity interview ever, according to the late night host — and of course, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lovingly poke fun at Crystal’s career and impact. At one point, Kimmel touched on Crystal’s history with a different awards show: the Oscars.
“Billy Crystal hosts the Oscars more times than Chevy Chase hosted ‘The Chevy Chase Show,’” he joked.
Obviously, Crystal can give it just as well as he can take it. When he finally took the stage to accept the award, he threw a dig right back at Kimmel.
“This is a little embarrassing, but I asked for Jimmy Fallon,” Crystal joked. “Now what do we do?”
Crystal also joked that the package of clips from his past projects, shown just before he was officially presented with the award, made him think of just one word: “residuals.”
Speaking more seriously, Crystal noted that though it was a “lifetime” achievement award, he feels most excited about what’s still to come. Crystal will celebrate his 74th birthday on Monday, and is returning to Broadway once more later this month.