Billy Crystal performs his beloved characters for his grandchildren
Billy Crystal and his wife Janice have four grandchildren, and they used to calling him so they could speak to Mike Wazowski and Miracle Max.
Billy Crystal’s grandchildren used to call him so they could speak to his beloved characters.
The 78-year-old actor is best known for voicing Mike Wazowski in Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. and playing Miracle Max in the 1987 fantasy-comedy film The Princess Bride.
Appearing on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Billy said it was “really exciting” for his four grandchildren to see him in action in his one-man Broadway show, 860.
He said: “To have my grandchildren witness my life and the family’s life that maybe they didn’t know all of these little details about right in front of them was really exciting for me.
“When they started to understand, when they were little, who I was, they would call me as the character that they liked.”
Recalling how he would answer the phone in the voice of Mike, the green, one-eyed monster, Billy continued: “So I would go, ‘Hello?’ ‘Is Mike there? Mike Wazowski there?’ ‘Yeah. I can’t tell you. Everybody OK?’”
He added: “And then The Princess Bride. You know, ‘Can we talk to Max?’ ‘Hello. What’s happening? How are you?’ ‘Have fun storming school.’”
Billy and Janice got married in June 1970, and they went on to welcome daughters Jennifer and Lindsay in 1973 and 1977, respectively.
Jennifer and her husband, Michael Foley, who tied the knot in September 2000, are parents to daughters Ella and Dylan.
Meanwhile, Lindsay, who lives a private life, has two sons.
Billy previously revealed that his grandchildren loved Mike so much that he had to remain in character whenever he saw them.
He told Parents: “The girls are 10 and seven, and the little guy is three-and-a-half. I had to explain what I did for a living, and I showed them Monsters, Inc. - because I couldn’t show them the orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally...
“I had to be Mike Wazowski every time I saw them for about a year after that. I was Grandpa Mike, and I could only talk like him.”
