Woody Allen

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Woody Allen
Allen in Cannes 2016
Born
Allen Stewart Konigsberg

(1935-11-30) November 30, 1935 (age 88)[a]
The Bronx, New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • writer
  • actor
  • comedian
  • musician
Years active1950–2023
Spouses
Partners
Children
  • Ronan Farrow (son)
  • Moses Farrow (son)
  • Dylan Farrow (daughter)
  • Bechet Dumaine Allen (daughter)
  • Manzie Tio Allen (daughter)[1]
RelativesLetty Aronson (sister)
AwardsSee Awards and Nominations
Websitewww.woodyallen.com
Signature

Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935)[a] is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans over fifty years. He has won the Academy Award three times, and many others in his very long career. His many works and his cerebral movie style, mixing satire and humor, have made him one of the most respected movie directors in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in most of them. To inspire himself for his movies, Allen uses literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and New York City, where he was born and has lived all life.

Early life[change | change source]

Allen was born at Mount of Eden Hospital in The Bronx,[3][4] He was raised in Brooklyn, New York City. His parents were Nettie (born Cherrie; November 8, 1906 – January 27, 2002), a bookkeeper at her family's delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg (December 25, 1900 – January 13, 2001), a jewelry engraver and waiter.[5] His family was Ashkenazi Jewish; his grandparents immigrated from Russia and Austria, and spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, and German.[6][7] Both parents were born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[6] Allen has a sister, Letty, who was born in 1943, and was raised in Midwood, Brooklyn.[8]

Career[change | change source]

Allen started writing scripts for The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show and other television shows when he was 19. He started working as a comedian in 1961. His first movie, What's New Pussycat?, was released in 1965. In 1966 he wrote his first play, the Broadway play Don't Drink the Water. In 1986 Allen's movie Hannah and Her Sisters made $18 million.

Personal life[change | change source]

Allen is a vociferous atheist, but of Jewish descent.[9]

Allen has had three wives. He dated Mia Farrow for 12 years. However, they never married and lived in different houses. Allen and Farrow adopted Dylan and Mosche Farrow together. Mia said in 1994 that Allen molested her 7-year-old daughter, Dylan Farrow.[10] In February 2014 an open letter by Dylan was published by the New York Times. In the letter, Dylan said that Allen had molested her. Her brother Mosche, who is now known as Moses Farrow, said that Allen did not molest her.[11] Allen said the allegations were "untrue and disgraceful".[12] On February 7, 2014, Allen wrote a response to Dylan in the New York Times.[13]

In 1992 Farrow realized that Allen was cheating on her with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. She found naked pictures of Soon-yi in Allen's house. Farrow and Allen broke up.[14] In 1997 Allen married Previn.[15] Previn and Allen have two adopted daughters.

Filmography[change | change source]

Movies[change | change source]

Year Film Credited as
Director Writer Actor Role
1965 What's New Pussycat? No Yes Yes Victor Shakapopulis
1966 What's Up, Tiger Lily? Yes Yes Yes Himself / Various voices
1967 Casino Royale No No Yes Dr. Noah / Jimmy Bond
1969 Don't Drink the Water No Yes No
Take the Money and Run Yes Yes Yes Virgil Starkwell
1971 Bananas Yes Yes Yes Fielding Mellish
1972 Play It Again, Sam No Yes Yes Allan Felix
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) Yes Yes Yes Victor Shakapopulis / Fabrizio / The Fool / Sperm #1
1973 Sleeper Yes Yes Yes Miles Monroe
1975 Love and Death Yes Yes Yes Boris Grushenko
1976 The Front No No Yes Howard Prince
1977 Annie Hall Yes Yes Yes Alvy Singer
1978 Interiors Yes Yes No
1979 Manhattan Yes Yes Yes Isaac Davis
1980 Stardust Memories Yes Yes Yes Sandy Bates
To Woody Allen, From Europe with Love No No Yes Himself
1982 A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy Yes Yes Yes Andrew
1983 Zelig Yes Yes Yes Leonard Zelig
1984 Broadway Danny Rose Yes Yes Yes Danny Rose
1985 The Purple Rose of Cairo Yes Yes No
1986 50 Years of Action! No No Yes Himself
Meetin' WA No No Yes Himself
Hannah and Her Sisters Yes Yes Yes Mickey Sachs
1987 Radio Days Yes Yes Yes Joe (voice)
September Yes Yes No
King Lear No No Yes Mr. Alien
1988 Another Woman Yes Yes No
1989 New York Stories (segment: Oedipus Wrecks) Yes Yes Yes Sheldon
Crimes and Misdemeanors Yes Yes Yes Cliff Stern
1990 Alice Yes Yes No
1991 Scenes from a Mall No No Yes Nick Fifer
Shadows and Fog Yes Yes Yes Kleinman
1992 Husbands and Wives Yes Yes Yes Gabe Roth
1993 Manhattan Murder Mystery Yes Yes Yes Larry Lipton
1994 Bullets Over Broadway Yes Yes No
1995 Mighty Aphrodite Yes Yes Yes Lenny Weinrib
1996 Everyone Says I Love You Yes Yes Yes Joe Berlin
1997 Deconstructing Harry Yes Yes Yes Harry Block
Wild Man Blues No No Yes Himself
1998 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies No No Yes Himself
Celebrity Yes Yes No
The Impostors No No Yes Audition Director
Antz No Yes[b] Yes Z (voice)
1999 Sweet and Lowdown Yes Yes Yes Narrator
2000 Company Man No No Yes American Ambassador
Small Time Crooks Yes Yes Yes Ray
Light Keeps Me Company No No Yes Himself
Picking Up the Pieces No No Yes Tex Crowley
2001 The Curse of the Jade Scorpion Yes Yes Yes C.W. Briggs
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures No No Yes Himself
2002 Hollywood Ending Yes Yes Yes Val Waxman
2003 100 Years of Hope & Humor No No Yes Himself
Anything Else Yes Yes Yes David Dobel
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin No No Yes Himself
2004 François Truffaut, une Autobiographie No No Yes Himself
Melinda and Melinda Yes Yes No
2005 The Ballad of Greenwich Village No No Yes Himself
The Outsider No No Yes Himself
Match Point Yes Yes No
2006 Scoop Yes Yes Yes Sid Waterman
Home No No Yes Himself
2007 Cassandra's Dream Yes Yes No
2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona Yes Yes No
2009 Whatever Works Yes Yes No
2010 You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger Yes Yes No
2011 Midnight in Paris Yes Yes No
2012 Paris Manhattan No No Yes Himself
To Rome with Love Yes Yes Yes Jerry
2013 Blue Jasmine Yes Yes No
Fading Gigolo No No Yes Murray
2014 Magic in the Moonlight Yes Yes No
2015 Irrational Man Yes Yes No
2016 Café Society Yes Yes Yes Narrator (voice)
2017 Wonder Wheel Yes Yes No
2019 Woody's Roundup: The Movie No No Yes Woody's Roundup Announcer (voice)
A Rainy Day in New York Yes Yes No
2020 Rifkin's Festival Yes Yes Yes

Notes[change | change source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Despite almost all sources listing his birth date as December 1, in his 2020 autobiography, Apropos of Nothing, Allen writes that he was actually born on November 30: "Actually, I was born on the thirtieth of November, very close to midnight, and my parents pushed the date so I could start off on a day one."[2]
  2. ↑ Uncredited rewrites

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Silverman, Steven (November 6, 1997). "Woody's New Girl". People. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ Allen, Woody (2020). Apropos of Nothing (1st ed.). Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-951627-34-8.
  3. ↑ Brigham, William (2019-07-31). Historical Dictionary of Woody Allen. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-2020-0.
  4. ↑ "The Unruly Life of Woody Allen". movies2.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  5. ↑ "Woody Allen Biography (1935–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "The religion of Woody Allen, director and actor". Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ Norwood, Stephen Harlan; Pollack, Eunice G. (2008). Encyclopedia of American Jewish history. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-638-1. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  8. ↑ Newman, Andy; Kilgannon, Corey (June 5, 2002). "Curse of the Jaded Audience: Woody Allen, in Art and Life". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2014. 'I think he's slacked off the last few movies', said Norman Brown, 70, a retired draftsman from Mr. Allen's old neighborhood, Midwood, Brooklyn, who said he had seen nearly all of Mr. Allen's 33 films.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ "What are the political views and Religious Beliefs of Woody Allen? - Hollowverse". hollowverse.com. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  10. ↑ Brozan, Nadine (13 May 1994). "Chronicle". The New York Times.
  11. ↑ Monde, Chiderah. "Dylan Farrow's brother speaks out against mom Mia Farrow, defends Woody Allen: 'Of course Woody did not molest my sister' - NY Daily News". nydailynews.com.
  12. ↑ http://uk.news.yahoo.com/allen-rejects-39-untrue-disgraceful-39-sex-abuse-232731191.html#osWnTRA
  13. ↑ Allen, Woody (7 February 2014). "Opinion - Woody Allen Speaks Out". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ "A Family Affair". PEOPLE.com.
  15. ↑ "CNN - Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi in Venice - December 24, 1997". edition.cnn.com.

Other websites[change | change source]

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