Lindsay Crystal, Janice Crystal, Billy Crystal, and Jennifer Crystal Foley attend the Opening Night Gala at the 2019 10th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival on April 11, 2019 in Hollywood, California.Photo:Presley Ann/Getty
Presley Ann/Getty
ActorBilly Crystal might be known forever to many as Harry from the 1989 filmWhen Harry Met Sally, but to Jennifer Crystal Foley and Lindsay Crystal, he’s always been Dad.
Billy andhis wife Janicewelcomed their daughters in 1973 and 1977.
In a 2013 interview with U.K. newspaperThe Guardian, Billy said the secret to being a good parent is not to try to be your child’s friend. He explained, “We knew we had to be their parents. A lot of parents nowadays try to be friends with their kids, and I don’t think that works.”
“Ultimately you will be friends as they get older, but when they are growing up you really have to know who you are and who they are,” he added.
In 2023, Billy was among the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honorees and afterward spoketoCBS Morningsabout how it felt to be awarded the honor in front of his daughters.
“This is what I felt, because looking, I’m wearing the (Kennedy Center Honors) medallion at the dinner. They just put it around your neck. And now, officially being this person, you’re an honoree. And I look out and there’s my two beautiful daughters, Jenny and Lindsay,” he told the outlet.
He also explained how he hoped his own approach to work had been a lesson for his girls.
“I always wanted them to know that if I had to be away it was because I was doing what I had to do, and something that made me happy, and that the lesson for your life is whatever you’re doing, be happy in what you’re doing,” said Crystal.
In January 2025, Billy confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE that he and Janice lost their Pacific Palisades home of 46 years in theLos Angeles wildfires.
“Janice and Ilived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love,” he said. “Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this.”
Billy and Janice are also grandparents to four. Here is everything to know about their daughters Jennifer and Lindsay Crystal.
Jennifer Crystal Foley, 52
Billy Crystal and Jennifer Crystal Foley attend AFI’s 41st Life Achievement Award Tribute to Mel Brooks on June 6, 2013 in Hollywood, California.Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
Billy and Janice’s oldest daughter, Jennifer, was born on Jan. 26, 1973. She graduated from Northwestern University in 1994.
In 2001, Billy urged Jennifer to audition for the role of Pat Maris, the wife of baseball player Roger Maris, in the movie61*which he was starring in, according to a later interview the actress gave to theNew York Post.
Jennifer later told the outlet about the conversation with her father: “I have to give you a shot; I can’t deny you a shot,’ my dad said to me, about trying out for the role of Pat, Roger Maris’s wife," she said at the time.
She also revealed that Billy didn’t tell Barry Pepper, who starred as Roger, that Jennifer was his daughter, though he did coach her on how she might win the role.
“He told me, ‘You have to win this, and all of me is hoping that you’ll be right for it, but do your work and earn it and let’s hope you read well with Barry Pepper, [who had been cast as Maris] and match up," Jennifer told theNew York Postat the time.
Jennifer Crystal Foley arrives at Fox’s “House” Series Finale Wrap Party on April 20, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
She was ultimately cast in the role. Jennifer and her father also worked together inCity SlickersandFather’s Day.
Jennifer and her husband Michael Foley, who was her college boyfriendaccording to CNN, married in September 2000. They are parents to two daughters, Ella Ryan Foley and Dylan Frances Foley.
“When my daughter Jenny was pregnant with our first grandchild, Ella, it was very profound for me because Jenny is my firstborn daughter,” Billy toldThe Guardianin 2013.
Lindsay Crystal, 47
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
Lindsay joined the family on Oct. 21, 1977. Like her father and sister, she is also in the entertainment industry.
Though she made her onscreen debut in her father’s filmCity Slickers(and even had a role in the sequel,City Slickers 2), these days Lindsay works as a producer and director, including as a producer onThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
According to IMDB, her credits include projects for HBO, Comedy Central, NBC, the Sundance Channel, and Disney+, and she also worked as a co-executive producer of politics podcastPod Save America. Accordingto her website, her documentary filmMy Uncle Bernswas an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2012, Lindsay directed her dad and Helen Mirren in the Funny or Die short titledWhen Harry Met Sally 2, which also featured her sister Jennifer as well asMike TysonandMaya Rudolph.
Janice Crystal, Billy Crystal and Lindsay Crystal.Bei/Shutterstock
Bei/Shutterstock
The following year, Billy spoke toToday’s Parentabout his role as a grandfather to his daughter’s children, including Lindsay’s two sons.
At the time, his latest grandchild, Lindsay’s youngest boy, was 3 months old. As well as welcoming a son in 2013, she already had another boy.
“The girls are 10 and seven and the little guy is three-and-a-half,” Billy explained to the outlet at the time. “I had to explain what I did for a living and I showed themMonsters, Inc.— because I couldn’t show them the orgasm scene fromWhen Harry Met Sally…(laughs),” he added.
“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,” he explained of his grandchildren.
“But now they’ve seen me on billboards for the Oscars and they’re used to it. They came to see (the 2012 family movie)Parental Guidanceand my seven-year-old granddaughter said to my daughter, ‘Mom, do people know Grandma is married to Billy Crystal?’ ”
source: people.com
