By StephanieLee Elliott
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is known as a standup comedian and for his film and stage roles. Crystal has received numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award as well as nominations for three Grammy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007, the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2023.
Crystal gained prominence for television roles as Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap from 1977 to 1981 and as a cast member and frequent host of Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985. Crystal then became known for his roles in films such as Running Scared (1986), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Memories of Me (1988), When Harry Met Sally… (1989), City Slickers (1991), Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Forget Paris (1995), Father’s Day (1997), America’s Sweethearts (2001), and Parental Guidance (2012). Crystal is the voice of Mike Wazowski in Pixar‘s Monsters, Inc. franchise. He has hosted the Academy Awards 9 times, beginning in 1990 and most recently in 2012.
Crystal made his Broadway debut in his one man show 700 Sundays in 2004, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. Crystal returned to the show again in 2014 which was filmed by HBO and received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special nomination. He wrote and starred in the Broadway musical Mr. Saturday Night based on his film in 2022, for which Crystal received two Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical and Best Book of a Musical. He has written five books including his memoir Still Foolin’ Em (2013).
On June 4, 1970, Crystal married his high school sweetheart, Janice Goldfinger. Crystal has long credited his parents, “who always looked like they loved being together,” with setting an example for his own marriage. They have two daughters: actress Jennifer and Lindsay, a producer, and are grandparents. They lived in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In January 2025, their home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
Crystal received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from New York University in 2016 and spoke at the commencement at Yankee Stadium.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:
“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”
Which means:
“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”
In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”). Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months.
As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“
March’s full Moon goes by the name Worm Moon, which was originally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. This invites robins and other birds to feed—a true sign of spring! An alternative explanation for this name comes from Captain Jonathan Carver, an 18th-century explorer, who wrote that this Moon name refers to a different sort of “worm”—beetle larvae—which begin to emerge from the thawing bark of trees and other winter hideouts at this time.
Question of the Day
I have a cereus cactus that has never bloomed. It just keeps sending out shoots, getting long and leggy. How can I make it bloom?
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Plough Monday
Puzzle of the Day
Why is a dog dressed more warmly in summer than he is in winter?
Born
- Johann Strauss, the Elder (composer) –
- Lucy Hobbs Taylor (first U.S. woman dentist) –
- John Luther “Casey” Jones (railroad engineer) –
- Albert Einstein (physicist) –
- Lester Brown (bandleader) –
- Max Shulman (novelist) –
- Hank Ketcham (cartoonist, creator of Dennis the Menace) –
- Frank Borman (astronaut) –
- Michael Caine (actor) –
- Quincy Jones ( musician and producer) –
- Billy Crystal (actor) –
- Kirby Puckett (baseball player) –
- Steph Curry (basketball player) –
- Simone Biles (Olympic gymnast) –
Died
- Emile Erckmann (novelist) –
- Henry Woods (federal judge) –
- Thomas Winship (editor of the Boston Globe from 1965-1984, Pulitzer Prize winner) –
- Peter Graves (actor) –
- Stephen Hawking (physicist) –
Events
- Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin –
- U.S. Congress adopted the gold standard –
- Pelican Island (Fla.) became first National Wildlife Refuge in the United States –
- Women granted the right to vote in Saskatchewan –
- Germany began retreat to Hindenburg Line (WWI) –
- First U.S. concrete seagoing ship, S.S. Faith, launched, Redwood City, California –
- U.S. President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax report –
- Shirley Temple left her footprints and handprints in the wet cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood –
- The U.S. Army Air Corp began bombing Osaka, Japan (WWII) –
- Possible UFO sighted in Healdsburg, California –
- Gordie Howe second player in NHL history to score 500 career goals –
- Jack Ruby was found guilty in Dallas of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy –
- Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward, aired its last episode –
- OPEC agreed to lower the benchmark price for crude oil by 15%. It marked the first price cut since the group’s formation in 1960 –
- Marc Garneau chosen as first Canadian astronaut to go into space –
- Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge founded in Manteo, North Carolina –
- Lebanese hijacker, Fawaz Younis, brought to U.S. to stand trial, found guilty of air piracy in 1985 hijacking –
- The Soviet Congress elected Mikhail Gorbachev to the country’s presidency, one day after clearing the post –
- Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love, Tom Waits, Jac Holzman, Art Rupe, and Leon Russell were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –
Weather
- Red snow and hail fell in parts of Italy and present-day Slovenia –
- A tornado swept through Nashville, Tennessee –
- At the end of a four-day storm, a record for the state of Iowa was set in Iowa City, 27.2 inches of snowfall –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
