Billy Crystal to replace Eddie Murphy as 2012 Oscar

Comedian Billy Crystal, who has hosted the Academy Awards eight times, will return next year to replace Eddie Murphy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday. Crystal, 63, will fill the void left by Murphy, who withdrew from his hosting duties overnight after his friend, director Brett Ratner, was forced to step down as the show's producer. Ratner, director of the movie "Tower Heist," which features Murphy, issued an apology for using a gay slur during the film's screening in Hollywood last week. "I'm thrilled to welcome Billy back to the Oscar stage," the Academy's President Tom Sherak said after producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer broke the news. "He's a comic legend and Oscar icon, and it feels good to have him back where he belongs." "Some of the best moments of my career have happened on the Oscar stage," Crystal said. "I am thrilled to be back there." Earlier, before the producers make the news public, Crystal wrote on his Twitter account: "Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show." This will mark Crystal's ninth time as the Oscar host. Only Bob Hope has hosted more, with 19 ceremonies between 1940 and 1978. Crystal hosted the show in 1990-1993, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2004. Crystal will be the oldest host at the show since Bob Hope in 1978 at the age of 74. The 84th Academy Awards will be broadcast live by ABC on Feb. 26 from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood in western Los Angeles.