Billy Crystal Looks Back On His Life And Career During Critics Choice Awards [Watch]

Billy Crystal is counting his blessings. The 73-year-old actor, who has been in the industry for 50 years, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday night.

Only five other stars, namely Lauren Bacall, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy, and Robert Wise, have been awarded the honor in the award show's history, per People.

The actor and comedian was presented the award by Jimmy Kimmel. Crystal was the first celebrity Kimmel interviewed, making it all the more fitting that he be the one to present him the honor during the show, according to Entertainment Tonight.

"I want to thank you for this wonderful award. To all the critics, this may be the first time we actually agree on something," Crystal began in his acceptance speech. A montage from his career played before his speech, about which Crystal said, "Watching those clips made me think of one word: that is, residuals."

"I had so many great moments and I want to thank all of the people I had those moments within every capacity ... I've been so blessed to work with such amazing people my entire career, which is now in its 50th year. What's exciting about it is so much more to come, that's what's exciting at this point in my life."

"Tomorrow is my birthday, and I'm going to be 74 years old, and as Jimmy mentioned, I'm about to open in a Broadway musical," he said, referring to the upcoming production of "Mr. Saturday Night."

"I can't remember when I worked harder or had more fun on a project, and I'm serious. I'll be 74 tomorrow, and I just can't remember," he added.

"Funny people, entertainers, we start by making our parents laugh first, our family, our friends. I grew up in a time ... when television was this new frontier, it was the comics that settled it," he said, explaining, "watching them get laughs made me want to get laughs."

"So before I knew it, I'm standing on a coffee table imitating my relatives, who were these joyful souls, many of them from ... Russia, my grandmothers were from Odesa and Kyiv. They escaped the pogroms to come to America, where they could live free from tyranny. And their laughter, the first laughs I ever got in my life, is the fuel that my engine is still burning today."

"I dedicate this award to those amazing people in our living room in Long Ridge, Long Island, whose laughter and joy started this five-year-old boy on his way to this moment. I pray that somehow, someway there can be laughter and joy in that part of the world once again," he said while clutching his award.

"My lifetime achievement award is my family," said Crystal, who is about to celebrate his 52nd wedding anniversary with his wife. He ended his speech with a quote from Muhammad Ali: "If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it."

The actor, known for his roles in films like 1989's "When Harry Met Sally" 1991's "City Slickers" and 1999's "Analyze This," first started his career in comedy clubs, before he moved into television with a recurring role on "Soap" in 1977. In the show, he played one of the first openly gay characters on television. From there, he hosted and then joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, making iconic the talk-show host character Fernando, according to The Hollywood Reporter.