The 66 year-old actor memorialised his close friend during the 66th Emmy Awards last month.
During the 66th Emmy Awards on August 25, 2014, Billy Crystal had the difficult honour of leading a tribute to the late comedian and his close friend Robin Williams. Unsurprisingly this was very tough for the 66 year-old actor, in fact he recently admitted it was one of the most difficult things he has ever been faced with in his career.
Crystal memorialised Williams at this year's Emmy Awards
Crystal recalled memorializing his best friend while appearing on Tuesday's 'Today' show (Sept 16th), and when discussing the legendary comedian's death with Matt Lauer, it was obvious he is still grieving.
More: Ethan Hawke Calls The Death of Robin Williams An "Immediate Sadness"
"He's my closest friend, and to do it with some humor and only in a short period of time that I had to do it was difficult," an emotional Crystal explained. "It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, [being] the spokesman for everybody in front of 17 million people."
The 'When Harry Met Sally' actor spoke of his close friendship with Williams, and revealed that "we'd talk three, four times a day, sometimes, but then the riffs were still great. We'd go late into the night like two jazz musicians who just got new horns."
On 11th August, Robin, who has had a long battle with sobriety and depression, was found in his bedroom, fully clothed, and gently suspended in a seat with a belt wrapped around his neck, with one end wedged between the door and the frame of his closet.
And at this year's Emmy's, Crystal would have made the Oscar-winning actor very proud when he gave a heartfelt tribute on the stage at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre.
Williams died aged 63
"He made us laugh, hard, any time you saw him," Cyrstal said to the crowd. "As genius as he was onstage, he was the greatest friend you could ever imagine-supportive, protective, loving.It's very hard to talk about him in the past because he's so present in all of our lives."
"For almost 40 years, he was the brightest star in the comedy galaxy, but though some of the brightest stars are extinct now.They float in the heavens, so far away from us now, their beautiful light will continue to shine on us forever...[and sometimes] you'll think to yourselves, 'Robin Williams, what a concept,'" he concluded.
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