Billy Crystal has announced that he will host the Academy Awards ceremony in 2012.
Crystal's involvement with next year's Oscars has been now been confirmed by the Academy following a statement made by the actor on his official Twitter account on Thursday evening (November 10).
Crystal wrote: "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."
In an official statement, he added that he is "thrilled" to return to the Academy Awards stage,
This will be the ninth time that Crystal has hosted the Oscars, with the most recent being 2004.
He will take over hosting duties from Eddie Murphy, who quit the position earlier this week following the resignation of producer Brett Ratner, who had been criticised for using the word "f*gs".
Tom Sherak, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president, said: "I'm thrilled to welcome Billy back to the Oscar stage. He's a comic legend and Oscar icon, and it feels good to have him back where he belongs."
The actor was reportedly the first choice of new producer Brian Grazer, who replaced Ratner yesterday.
Grazer said: "Like so many others, I've been eager to see Billy host again. It's very gratifying that he agreed to do it with Don [Mischer] and me at the helm."
Crystal had spoken of his interest in hosting next year's ceremony back in August.
