Billy Crystal on finding humor in the darkest of times

October 11, 2026 / 10:18 AM EDT / CBS News

If Billy Crystal is one of the kings of comedy, his family home in L.A.'s Pacific Palisades neighborhood was definitely his castle. "Sunday Morning" was invited there a few times for interviews, and I'd usually end up getting schooled on his backyard basketball court.

It was, he acknowledged, a magical place: "Yeah, it kept me young, that place," he said.

It was his family's forever home, but things don't always last forever. In January 2025, a massive, wind-driven inferno tore through the Crystals' Pacific Palisades neighborhood, devouring more than 5,000 homes, including the Crystals'. The fire took everything, but in the smoldering ruins of what was once their family home, Billy Crystal and his wife Janice found inspiration.

Crystal is taking the story of his home, and his life, to Broadway, in his new one-person show, "860," talking about what he lost, and what he learned.

"Oh God, what a morning. Helicopters and sirens woke us up to the news that there was a big brush fire in the Highlands."

He describes the disaster moment by moment, and it's a harrowing tale. But he's still Billy Crystal.

"Janice is the…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/