Billy Crystal, 70, Reveals He Has No Plans to Retire From Acting Anytime Soon: ‘What Would I Do?’

At age 70, Billy Crystal is not thinking about retiring. The comedian still loves going to work everyday and making people smile. “I remember when they asked George Burns if he would ever retire. He said, ‘To what? What would I do?’” Billy laughed during a new interview with Variety. “That’s how I feel.”

However, before Billy became a big shot actor, he was just making ends meet. If he never played Buddy Young, Jr. on his 1992 film, Mr. Saturday Night, then his career could have went in an entirely different direction.

“It was a 72-day shoot and 53 of those days I was in old-age makeup, so that meant getting to the studio at 2 a.m. and sitting for six or seven hours of makeup, then directing all day in that stuff,” he recalled about shooting the movie.

In his 44-year career, Billy has worn many hats, and one of them is being a host at the Academy Awards. He first took the gig in 1990 and he did such a great job that he was asked to host the award show eight more times. When Variety asked him about his thoughts on the 2019 Oscars, Billy said it could of used more “spontaneity.”

“There are times you want a host to capitalize on it when something happens in the room,” he admitted. “I’m not saying that happened, but some of my favorite moments were when I could make things that happened in the room part of the show.”

With multiple projects coming out like Monsters at Work, Billy is one busy bee. He just completed his latest film, Standing Up, Falling Down, which is set to be released on April 25, 2019. “[I’m] busier than I’ve been in a long time,” he admitted, and that’s just the way he likes it!