Saturday Nightand his 2022 play by that name, which earned five Tony Award nominations.
Crystal tells AARP how Buddy came to be, and how he feels in his 70s marvelous!
How old were you when you made your Broadway musical debut inMr.
Seventy-four in front of my grandchildren.
My [non-musical] Broadway debut was700 Sundaysback in 2004.
But to sing, dance, doing eight shows a week was really thrilling.
I love that challenge at any age, but especially now.
When I did the movie I was 43.
So to play Buddy, whos 75, doesnt seem so old now.
In 1992 I had four or five hours of makeup every day that I played him.
Now I dont need the makeup I just show up.
When did you first dream up the Buddy character?
1984, on an HBO special,A Comics Line.
It was a 30-second cameo character.
And then I brought him toSaturday Night Live.
I did [Buddy] live and I was likeDon Rickles, I just had funny interplay with them.
I had no idea what I was going to say.
And it was really funny.
And then I knew I had something.
Then in HBOs 1986 specialDont Get Me Started, Rob Reiner interviews me as Buddy Young.
We were about to doThe Princess Bride, and I showed it to the wonderful screenwriter William Goldman.
He said, Wow, this guy is Willy Loman with laughs.
Hes funny, but theres a sadness about him.
You gotta do something else with him.
So when we were shootingCity Slickers, I started writing the movieMr.
And David got an Academy Award nomination in theMr.
And Paymer shouldve gotten a Tony Award for the play.
What did you learn between the movie and the play versions?
Buddy wins in the end of the musical.
He doesnt really in the movie.
And he patches things up with his daughter [Shoshana Bean fromWicked].
The show starts with a defeated soul looking into a mirror not liking what hes seeing.
It ends with a man who likes what hes seeing.
And thats the journey.
Its never too late to find new things about yourself.
Dont just give in.
Dont throw in the towel.
