Billy Crystal will replace Eddie Murphy as host of the Oscars

Billy Crystal will replace Eddie Murphy as host of the Oscars, the Academy confirmed Thursday.BILLY CRYSTAL is helping put a fairytale ending on an ugly Academy Awards drama by returning to host the famed ceremony in backdraft of Eddie Murphy’s departure.

Crystal, widely considered the best host of the last decade, maybe longer, was called in to fill the slot left vacant when Murphy followed his producing partner Brett Ratner out the door.

“Some of the best moments of my career have happened on the Oscar stage,” Crystal said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be back there. Actually, I am doing this so that the young woman in my pharmacy will stop asking me my name when I pick up my perscriptions.”

The way in for Crystal came after Ratner was shamed out of the show following his use of a gay slur in a talk about his latest flick, “Tower Heist.”

Murphy, who worked with Ratner on “Tower Heist,” bailed out Wednesday, saying he understood both sides of the issue between Ratner and the Acadamy, though he’d lost his creative counterpart.

The actor and comic has been the yardstick from which everyone is measured when they host the Academy Awards, which is typically the most-watched non sporting event of every year.

“He's been much missed by Oscar fans since he last hosted the show in 2004,” said Tom O’Neil said, who runs Goldderby.com, an awards website.The ceremony is set for February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre. ABC will air the show live.