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Woody Allen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation,
search

Woody Allen.

Woody Allen, (born Allen Stewart Königsberg on December
1, 1935),
is an American film director, screenwriter, stand up comic, short
story writer, and musician whose large body
of work and cerebral style have made him one of the most widely respected
and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. He writes and directs his own
movies and has acted in many of them as well. Allen draws heavily on
literature, philosophy, European cinema and most importantly, New York City, where
he was born and in which he has lived all his life, for much of his
inspiration; indeed, his onscreen persona is that of the quintessential
New York Jewish
intellectual: neurotic and self-absorbed, cosmopolitan yet insecure, with
a self-deprecating sense of humor. He is 5'5" and 125 lbs. His diminuitive
size, unkempt hair, large nose, square rimmed glasses, and beige, baggy
wardrobe combine to give him a somewhat goofy appearance.

Contents

[hide]

1 Early
years

2 Education

3 Writing for
television

4 Film
Career

4.1 Early
films

4.2 1960s and
1970s

4.3 1980s

4.4 1990s

4.5 2000s

4.6 Famous actors in
his movies

5 Awards

6 Personal
Life

6.1 Early
Marriages

6.2 Relationship with
Diane Keaton

6.3 12-year
relationship with Mia Farrow

6.4 Affair with
Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn

6.5 Accusations of
sexual abuse of daughter Dylan

7 Surprise appearance
in Los Angeles

8 Musical
Career

9 Bibliography

10 Books on Woody
Allen

11 External
links

12 References

Early years

Allen was born in Brooklyn, New
York, into a Jewish family. His parents Martin Konigsberg and Nettea
Cherrie, and his sister, Letty, lived in Flatbush, Brooklyn,
where he attended a Hebrew school for eight years. After that, he went to
Public School 99 and then to Midwood High, where "Red" (as he was called
because of his hair) impressed students with his extraordinary talent at
cards and magic tricks. To raise money, he began writing gags for the agent David O.
Alber, who sold them to newspaper columnists. Reportedly, Allen's first
published joke was "I am two with Nature." At sixteen, he started writing
for show stars like Sid Caesar and began
calling himself Woody Allen. He was a gifted comedian from an early
stage.

He would later joke that when he was young he was often sent to
inter-faith summer camps, in which he "was savagely beaten by children of
all races and creeds".

[edit]

Education

After high school, he went to New York
University where he studied communication and film but, never much of
a student, he soon dropped out due to poor grades. He also briefly
attended City College
of New York after that.

[edit]

Writing for television

Allen's film persona was the subject of the comic
strip Inside Woody
Allen from 1976 to 1984.

At nineteen, he started writing scripts for The Ed Sullivan
Show, The Tonight
Show and others. In 1957, he won
his first Emmy Award.

He started writing prose and plays, and in 1960, started a new career as
a stand-up comedian
and also began writing for the popular Candid Camera
television show, even appearing in some episodes. Together with his
managers he turned his weaknesses into his strengths and developed the
neurotic, nervous, and shy figure famous from his later movies. He soon
became an immensely popular comedian and appeared frequently in nightclubs
and on television.

[edit]

Film Career

For more details on this topic, see List of
Woody Allen films.

[edit]

Early films

His first movie production was What's New,
Pussycat? in 1965, for which he
wrote the screenplay. It was a largely unpleasant experience for Allen as
he was trapped in Paris for six months during
the production. Furthermore, the studio never showed much respect for his
script, altering the film to the point where it bore little resemblance to
Allen's original vision. Allen's first directorial effort was What's Up,
Tiger Lily? (1966), in which an
existing Japanese spy movie was
redubbed in English by Allen
and his friends with completely new, comic dialogue. In 1967, he also
appeared in the offbeat James Bond spoof, Casino
Royale.

[edit]

1960s and 1970s

Woody Allen, early 70s.

His first conventional directing effort was Take The Money
and Run (1969), which was
followed by Bananas, Everything
You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask),
Sleeper, and
Love and Death.
In 1972, he also starred in the film version of his own play called Play It Again,
Sam, which was directed by Herbert Ross. All of
Allen's early films are pure comedies that relied heavily on slapstick, inventive sight
gags, and non-stop one-liners. Among the many notable influences on
these films are Bob Hope and Groucho Marx.

Annie Hall DVD Cover

His most successful movies were produced in a ten year period starting
with Annie Hall; other
critical and financial successes were Manhattan,
The Purple
Rose of Cairo (named by Time Magazine as one
of the 100 best films of all time, and Allen's personal favorite) and
Hannah and Her
Sisters (winner of three Academy
Awards).

The Front DVD Cover

He returned to directing in 1977's Annie
Hall, a modern classic that marked a major turn away to more
sophisticated humor and thoughtful drama
-- winning four Academy Awards. The
film set the standard for modern romantic comedy and also started a
fashion trend with the unique clothes worn by Diane Keaton in the
film (the off-beat, masculine clothing, such as ties with cardigans, was
actually Keaton's own). He also directed the serious drama Interiors, in the
manner of the great Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman, one
of Allen's major influences.

In 1976, he starred in,
but did not direct, The Front, a serious
look at Hollywood blacklisting during the
1950s.

Allen won the 1978 O. Henry Award for
his short story "The
Kugelmass Episode" published in The New Yorker on
May 2, 1977.

[edit]

1980s

Most of his 1980s films, even the
comedies, have somber and philosophical undertones. Many, like September
and Stardust
Memories, are often said to be heavily influenced by the works of
European directors, most notably Ingmar Bergman and
Federico Fellini.
Stardust Memories was considered by many to be a biting piece of
work in which the main character (played by Allen) expresses resentment
and scorn for his fans. In the film, overcome by the recent death of a
friend from illness, he states, "I don't want to make funny movies any
more." However, by the mid-80's Allen had begun to combine his love of
both tragic and comic elements with the release of such films as Hannah and Her
Sisters, Husbands and
Wives and Crimes and
Misdemeanors.

[edit]

1990s

His 1992 film Shadows and
Fog is an homage to Fritz Lang, G.W.
Pabst and F.W. Murnau, and the
German expressionists.

In the late 1990s he returned to lighter
movies: Everyone Says
I Love You, a musical, Mighty
Aphrodite, for which Mira Sorvino won an
Academy Award, and
others.

[edit]

2000s

Allen's movies in the 21st century have
included Melinda and
Melinda and The
Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Small Time
Crooks (2000), his first film with DreamWorks SKG
studio, was a modest success, grossing over ten million dollars.

Allen's films tend to be more popular in Europe, particularly France, a
country where he has a large fan base; in fact, he himself has said that
he "survives" on the European market.

His latest film, Match Point,
starring Scarlett
Johansson, debuted at the 2005 Cannes Film
Festival. Match Point is set in London. He enjoyed the
experience of shooting Match Point so much that he shot another
film in the city titled Scoop. Which features Hugh Jackman, Ian
McShane, Kevin McNally and Johansson again. The film is currently in
post-production.

Allen seems to be reinvigorated by the change of scenery and recently
announced that he was in pre-production for a third film to be filmed in
London. link.

[edit]

Famous actors in his movies

Allen has attracted diverse and talented actors for his films,
including Diane Keaton, Julia Roberts, Sean
Penn, Michael Caine, John
Cusack, Anjelica Huston,
Alan
Alda, Drew Barrymore, Judy
Davis, Stockard
Channing, Carrie Fisher, Helen
Hunt, Téa Leoni, Jonny Lee Miller,
Amanda Peet, Natalie Portman,
Christina Ricci,
Chloë Sevigny, Wallace Shawn, and
David Ogden
Stiers. He continues to write roles for the neurotic persona he
created in the 1960s and 1970s. However, as Allen
gets older, the roles have been assumed by other actors such as John
Cusack (Bullets Over Broadway), Kenneth Branagh
(Celebrity), Jason Biggs
(Anything Else), and Will Ferrell
(Melinda and Melinda).

[edit]

Awards

Allen's film Annie Hall won four Academy Awards, including Best
Picture, Best Actress and Best Director (Allen).

Hannah and Her Sisters won three -- Best Actor in a supporting
role, Best Actress in a supporting role, with Best Screenplay going to
Allen.

Allen twice won the César
Award for Best Foreign Film, the first in 1980 for Manhattan
and the second in 1986 for The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Allen is the most frequently nominated person in the Academy Award
category of Best Original Screenplay, with a total of 13 nominations. He
has also been nominated many times in the category of Best Director, and
his actors are also among the most frequently nominated people in their
respective categories. Allen himself was nominated for Best Actor for his
role in Annie Hall.

In a 2005
poll The Comedian's
Comedian, Allen was voted the third greatest comedy act ever by
fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Allen won the 1978 O. Henry Award for
his short story "The
Kugelmass Episode" published in The New Yorker on
May 2, 1977.

[edit]

Personal Life

[edit]

Early Marriages

In 1956, at
age twenty, Allen married Harlene Rosen, a philosophy student. The two
were divorced in 1962. Allen later married Bananas
co-star Louise Lasser in 1966 in what began
a pattern of romantic involvement with his leading ladies. Allen and
Lasser were divorced in 1969 and Allen would not
remarry until 1997.

[edit]

Relationship with Diane Keaton

In 1970,
Allen cast Diane Keaton in his
Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam," which had a successful run. It was
during this time that she became romantically involved with Allen and
appeared in a number of his films, including 1977 Best Picture Annie
Hall.

[edit]

12-year relationship with Mia Farrow

Starting around 1980, Allen began a lengthy relationship with actress
Mia
Farrow who had leading roles in several of his movies. The two never
married, but they adopted two children together, Dylan
Farrow and Moses
Farrow and had one biological child, Seamus Farrow. Allen
did not adopt Farrow's older adopted daughter, Soon-Yi. Allen's adoptions
of both Moses and Dylan were voided after he and Mia separated.

Seamus has not seen Allen in over 7 years and does not wish to pursue a
relationship with him[1]. At a younger age,
he was also reportedly "phobic" of his father[2].
Originally named Satchel, after baseball pitcher Satchel Paige,
Allen's son changed his name to Seamus after his parents separated. Allen
and Farrow's adopted daughter also changed her name after the separation,
initially from Dylan to Eliza, then four years later to Malone.

The relationship between Farrow and Allen ended in scandal.

[edit]

Affair with Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn

In 1992,
Allen's personal life became very public, when he left his long-term
partner Farrow after she stumbled across an envelope containing pornographic polaroid
photographs Allen had taken of her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn.
Allen had been engaged in a sexual affair with Soon-Yi since before her
graduation from high school. As Soon-Yi was an orphan without a birth
record, her age is hard to verify[3].
Estimates of her age in 1992 range from 17 to 22, at least 35 years
younger than Allen.

Allen has defended his actions, saying that he never lived with Farrow.
However, Allen has also said of his relationship with Soon-Yi, "It's got a
more paternal feeling to it."[4]

[edit]

Accusations of sexual
abuse of daughter Dylan

Also in 1992, during a protracted legal battle following the revelation
of Allen's affair with Soon-Yi, Farrow accused Allen of sexually abusing
their seven-year-old adopted daughter Dylan. The case never went to trial
and Allen was never indicted.

Farrow claimed to
have seen Allen masturbating over Dylan. During three weeks of interviews Dylan
said that Allen had inserted his right index finger into her vagina and
kissed her "all over".

During the investigation Allen
hired a team of private detectives to "get some dirt" on the investigative
team. One of their targets was Sgt. John Mucherino. The investigators wanted to know if
Mucherino was a drinker or gambler, and if he had
any marital problems. Some of the detectives were former police officers
who were friends with Mucherino.[5]

Prosucutor Frank Maco said he had evidence to charge Allen,
but would not do so for Dylan's sake. Of Dylan, Maco said "I saw complete withdrawal any
time I tried to discuss the incident. This was complete withdrawal and
regression. At the time she was so fragile and damaged I knew she would
not be a good witness. I knew she needed healing. I was not going to
interfere with her recovery."

Allen subsequently filed a
complaint against Maco, which was dismissed.[6].

In Dylan's custody trial, which
Allen eventually lost, psychologist Susan Coates testified that Allen's relationship
with Dylan was "inappropriately intense", but that she never observed
Allen acting in a sexual way toward Dylan.

Coates also reported that a
1990 evaluation of Dylan said Dylan would easily be "taken over by
fantasy".

As to Farrow, Coates said she
was convinced that she might harm herself or Allen. Farrow had made angry
phone calls and given Allen a Valentine with skewers through the hearts of
her children. Coates said "I understood from Mr. Allen that Miss Farrow
had repeatedly called him and said that she thought he should be dead,
that she wanted to kill him". Farrow says the Valentine was not a threat,
it was "an attempt to depict to a man who didn't know or didn't care what
he had done."

Coates described Farrow's phone
call to her reporting the allegations of abuse as puzzlingly
calm.[7]

Allen is barred from
unsupervised visits with his biological children.

Some of these events echo the
plotline of Allen's Husbands and Wives, released at the time of the legal
battle In that film, Woody and Mia play a couple whose decade-long
relationship is falling apart, with Woody's character becoming attracted
to one of his college-age students. Farrow discusses the events in
What Falls Away: A
Memoir, ISBN 0385471874.

Allen and Helena Bonham
Carter as a couple in Mighty
Aphrodite

Marriage to Soon-Yi Previn

Allen and Soon-Yi married in 1997 and later adopted two
daughters, naming both (Bechet Allen and Manzie Tio Allen) after jazz
musicians (Sidney Bechet and Manzie
Johnson).

[edit]

Surprise appearance in Los Angeles

In 2002
Woody made a surprise appearance at the Academy Awards telecast – his
first ever due to his intense dislike of Los Angeles. It was
part of a tribute to New York after the 9/11
terrorist attacks. He has been instrumental in encouraging filmmakers
to film in his favorite city.

[edit]

Musical Career

Woody Allen performing in Vienne,
France.

Allen studied the clarinet since
adolescence. When he changed his name for show business, he took his first
name from an idol, famed clarinettist Woody Herman. He has
performed publicly at least since the late 1960s, notably with the Preservation
Hall Jazz Band on the soundtrack of Sleeper. "Woody Allen and his New Orleans
Jazz Band" plays every Monday evening at Manhattan's Carlyle
Hotel, specializing in classic New Orleans jazz
from the early twentieth century. The documentary film
Wild Man Blues (directed by Barbara Kopple)
documents a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band, as well as his
relationship with Soon-Yi.

[edit]

Bibliography

Woody Allen
Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

Getting
Even (1971), ISBN
0394473485

Without
Feathers (1975), ISBN
0394497430

Side Effects
(1980), ISBN
0394511042

Woody
Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman (1995),
ISBN
080211556X

[edit]

Books on Woody Allen

Stephan Reimertz : Woody Allen : Eine Biographie.
Reinbek 2000 ISBN
3499611457 (In German)

-- : Woody Allen (rororo-Monographie). Reinbek 2005 ISBN
3499504103 (In German)

Lauren Hill: 'The Essential Woody Allen'

Graham Flashner: 'Fun With Woody'.

[edit]

External links

Wikiquote has a
collection of quotations related to:

Woody
Allen

Woody Allen at the Internet
Movie Database

Senses
of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

The Whore of
Mensa - A Short Story by Woody Allen

Woody Allen Movies

Woody Allen
at celebritywonder.com: many recent quotes and comments attributed
to Allen

Woody Allen and Philosophy

Filmography & analysis
of Allen's Women in Film

La De
Da: Annie Hall as Divine Tragicomedy - essay written for the
City of the Angels Film Festival, 2005.

Ron
Schuler's Parlour Tricks: Woody Allen

Films Directed by
Woody Allen

What's
Up, Tiger Lily? | Take the
Money and Run | Men
of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story | Bananas |
Everything
You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)
| Sleeper |
Love and
Death | Annie Hall |
Interiors |
Manhattan
| Stardust
Memories | A
Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy | Zelig | Broadway
Danny Rose | The
Purple Rose of Cairo | Hannah
and Her Sisters | Radio Days |
September
| Another
Woman | New York
Stories | Crimes
and Misdemeanors | Alice
| Shadows and
Fog | Husbands and
Wives | Manhattan
Murder Mystery | Bullets
Over Broadway | Don't
Drink the Water | Mighty
Aphrodite | Everyone
Says I Love You | Deconstructing
Harry | Celebrity
| Sweet and
Lowdown | Small Time
Crooks | The
Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Hollywood
Ending | Anything
Else | Melinda and
Melinda | Match
Point

Woody Allen

From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation,
search

Woody Allen.

Woody Allen, (born Allen Stewart Königsberg on December
1, 1935),
is an American film director, screenwriter, stand up comic, playwright, short
story writer, and musician whose large body
of work and cerebral style have made him one of the most widely respected
and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. He writes and directs his own
movies and has acted in many of them as well. Allen draws heavily on
literature, philosophy, European cinema and most importantly, New York City, where
he was born and in which he has lived all his life, for much of his
inspiration; indeed, his onscreen persona is that of the quintessential
New York Jewish
intellectual: neurotic and self-absorbed, cosmopolitan yet insecure, with
a self-deprecating sense of humor. He is 5'5" and 125 lbs. His diminuitive
size, unkept hair, large nose, square rimmed glasses, and beige, baggy
wardrobe combine to somewhat goofy appearance.

Contents

[hide]

1 Early years

2 Education

3 Writing for
television

4 Film Career

4.1 Early films

4.2 1960s and
1970s

4.3 1980s

4.4 1990s

4.5 2000s

4.6 Famous actors in his
movies

5 Awards

6 Personal Life

6.1 Early
Marriages

6.2 Relationship with Diane
Keaton

6.3 12-year relationship
with Mia Farrow

6.4 Affair with Farrow's
adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn

6.5 Accusations of sexual
abuse of daughter Dylan

7 Surprise appearance in Los
Angeles

8 Musical Career

9 Bibliography

10 Books on Woody
Allen

11 External links

12 References

Early years

Allen was born in Brooklyn, New
York, into a Jewish family. His parents Martin Konigsberg and Nettea
Cherrie, and his sister, Letty, lived in Flatbush, Brooklyn,
where he attended a Hebrew school for eight years. After that, he went to
Public School 99 and then to Midwood High, where "Red" (as he was called
because of his hair) impressed students with his extraordinary talent at
cards and magic tricks. To raise money, he began writing gags for the agent David O.
Alber, who sold them to newspaper columnists. Reportedly, Allen's first
published joke was "I am two with Nature." At sixteen, he started writing
for show stars like Sid Caesar and began
calling himself Woody Allen. He was a gifted comedian from an early
stage.

He would later joke that when he was young he was often sent to
inter-faith summer camps, in which he "was savagely beaten by children of
all races and creeds".

[edit]

Education

After high school, he went to New York
University where he studied communication and film but, never much of
a student, he soon dropped out due to poor grades. He also briefly
attended City College
of New York after that.

[edit]

Writing for television

Allen's film persona was the subject of the comic
strip Inside Woody
Allen from 1976 to 1984.

At nineteen, he started writing scripts for The Ed Sullivan
Show, The Tonight
Show and others. In 1957, he won
his first Emmy Award.

He started writing prose and plays, and in 1960, started a new career as
a stand-up comedian
and also began writing for the popular Candid Camera
television show, even appearing in some episodes. Together with his
managers he turned his weaknesses into his strengths and developed the
neurotic, nervous, and shy figure famous from his later movies. He soon
became an immensely popular comedian and appeared frequently in nightclubs
and on television.

[edit]

Film Career

For more details on this topic, see List of
Woody Allen films.

[edit]

Early films

His first movie production was What's New,
Pussycat? in 1965, for which he
wrote the screenplay. It was a largely unpleasant experience for Allen as
he was trapped in Paris for six months during
the production. Furthermore, the studio never showed much respect for his
script, altering the film to the point where it bore little resemblance to
Allen's original vision. Allen's first directorial effort was What's Up,
Tiger Lily? (1966), in which an
existing Japanese spy movie was
redubbed in English by Allen
and his friends with completely new, comic dialogue. In 1967, he also
appeared in the offbeat James Bond spoof, Casino
Royale.

[edit]

1960s and 1970s

Woody Allen, early 70s.

His first conventional directing effort was Take The Money
and Run (1969), which was
followed by Bananas, Everything
You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask),
Sleeper, and
Love and Death.
In 1972, he also starred in the film version of his own play called Play It Again,
Sam, which was directed by Herbert Ross. All of
Allen's early films are pure comedies that relied heavily on slapstick, inventive sight
gags, and non-stop one-liners. Among the many notable influences on
these films are Bob Hope and Groucho Marx.

Annie Hall DVD Cover

His most successful movies were produced in a ten year period starting
with Annie Hall; other
critical and financial successes were Manhattan,
The Purple
Rose of Cairo (named by Time Magazine as one
of the 100 best films of all time, and Allen's personal favorite) and
Hannah and Her
Sisters (winner of three Academy
Awards).

The Front DVD Cover

He returned to directing in 1977's Annie
Hall, a modern classic that marked a major turn away to more
sophisticated humor and thoughtful drama
-- winning four Academy Awards. The
film set the standard for modern romantic comedy and also started a
fashion trend with the unique clothes worn by Diane Keaton in the
film (the off-beat, masculine clothing, such as ties with cardigans, was
actually Keaton's own). He also directed the serious drama Interiors, in the
manner of the great Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman, one
of Allen's major influences.

In 1976, he starred in,
but did not direct, The Front, a serious
look at Hollywood blacklisting during the
1950s.

Allen won the 1978 O. Henry Award for
his short story "The
Kugelmass Episode" published in The New Yorker on
May 2, 1977.

[edit]

1980s

Most of his 1980s films, even the
comedies, have somber and philosophical undertones. Many, like September
and Stardust
Memories, are often said to be heavily influenced by the works of
European directors, most notably Ingmar Bergman and
Federico Fellini.
Stardust Memories was considered by many to be a biting piece of
work in which the main character (played by Allen) expresses resentment
and scorn for his fans. In the film, overcome by the recent death of a
friend from illness, he states, "I don't want to make funny movies any
more." However, by the mid-80's Allen had begun to combine his love of
both tragic and comic elements with the release of such films as Hannah and Her
Sisters, Husbands and
Wives and Crimes and
Misdemeanors.

[edit]

1990s

His 1992 film Shadows and
Fog is an homage to Fritz Lang, G.W.
Pabst and F.W. Murnau, and the
German expressionists.

In the late 1990s he returned to lighter
movies: Everyone Says
I Love You, a musical, Mighty
Aphrodite, for which Mira Sorvino won an
Academy Award, and
others.

[edit]

2000s

Allen's movies in the 21st century have
included Melinda and
Melinda and The
Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Small Time
Crooks (2000), his first film with DreamWorks SKG
studio, was a modest success, grossing over ten million dollars.

Allen's films tend to be more popular in Europe, particularly France, a
country where he has a large fan base; in fact, he himself has said that
he "survives" on the European market.

His latest film, Match Point,
starring Scarlett
Johansson, debuted at the 2005 Cannes Film
Festival. Match Point is set in London. He enjoyed the
experience of shooting Match Point so much that he shot another
film in the city titled Scoop, which features Hugh Jackman, Ian
McShane, Kevin McNally and Johansson again. The film is currently in
post-production.

Allen seems to be reinvigorated by the change of scenery and recently
announced that he was in pre-production for a third film to be filmed in
London. link.

[edit]

Famous actors in his movies

Allen has attracted diverse and talented actors for his films,
including Diane Keaton, Julia Roberts, Sean
Penn, Michael Caine, John
Cusack, Anjelica Huston,
Alan
Alda, Drew Barrymore, Judy
Davis, Stockard
Channing, Carrie Fisher, Helen
Hunt, Téa Leoni, Jonny Lee Miller,
Amanda Peet, Natalie Portman,
Christina Ricci,
Chloë Sevigny, Wallace Shawn, and
David Ogden
Stiers. He continues to write roles for the neurotic persona he
created in the 1960s and 1970s. However, as Allen
gets older, the roles have been assumed by other actors such as John
Cusack (Bullets Over Broadway), Kenneth Branagh
(Celebrity), Jason Biggs
(Anything Else), and Will Ferrell
(Melinda and Melinda).

[edit]

Awards

Allen's film Annie Hall won four Academy Awards, including Best
Picture, Best Actress and Best Director (Allen).

Hannah and Her Sisters won three -- Best Actor in a supporting
role, Best Actress in a supporting role, with Best Screenplay going to
Allen.

Allen twice won the César
Award for Best Foreign Film, the first in 1980 for Manhattan
and the second in 1986 for The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Allen is the most frequently nominated person in the Academy Award
category of Best Original Screenplay, with a total of 13 nominations. He
has also been nominated many times in the category of Best Director, and
his actors are also among the most frequently nominated people in their
respective categories. Allen himself was nominated for Best Actor for his
role in Annie Hall.

In a 2005
poll The Comedian's
Comedian, Allen was voted the third greatest comedy act ever by
fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Allen won the 1978 O. Henry Award for
his short story "The
Kugelmass Episode" published in The New Yorker on
May 2, 1977.

[edit]

Personal Life

[edit]

Early Marriages

In 1956, at
age twenty, Allen married Harlene Rosen, a philosophy student. The two
were divorced in 1962. Allen later married Bananas
co-star Louise Lasser in 1966 in what began
a pattern of romantic involvement with his leading ladies. Allen and
Lasser were divorced in 1969 and Allen would not
remarry until 1997.

[edit]

Relationship with Diane Keaton

In 1970,
Allen cast Diane Keaton in his
Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam," which had a successful run. It was
during this time that she became romantically involved with Allen and
appeared in a number of his films, including 1977 Best Picture Annie
Hall.

[edit]

12-year relationship with Mia Farrow

Starting around 1980, Allen began a lengthy relationship with actress
Mia
Farrow who had leading roles in several of his movies. The two never
married, but they adopted two children together, Dylan
Farrow and Moses
Farrow and had one biological child, Seamus Farrow. Allen
did not adopt Farrow's older adopted daughter, Soon-Yi. Allen's adoptions
of both Moses and Dylan were voided after he and Mia separated.

Seamus has not seen Allen in over 7 years and does not wish to pursue a
relationship with him[1]. At a younger age,
he was also reportedly "phobic" of his father[2].
Originally named Satchel, after baseball pitcher Satchel Paige,
Allen's son changed his name to Seamus after his parents separated. Allen
and Farrow's adopted daughter also changed her name after the separation,
initially from Dylan to Eliza, then four years later to Malone.

The relationship between Farrow and Allen ended in scandal.

[edit]

Affair with Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn

In 1992,
Allen's personal life became very public, when he left his long-term
partner Farrow after she stumbled across an envelope containing pornographic polaroid
photographs Allen had taken of her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn.
Allen had been engaged in a sexual affair with Soon-Yi since before her
graduation from high school. As Soon-Yi was an orphan without a birth
record, her age is hard to verify[3].
Estimates of her age in 1992 range from 17 to 22, at least 35 years
younger than Allen.

Allen has defended his actions, saying that he never lived with Farrow.
In a 2005 Vanity Fair interview, Allen described their relationship as
having a "more paternal feeling."

[edit]

Accusations of sexual abuse
of daughter Dylan

Also in 1992, during a protracted legal battle following the revelation
of Allen's affair with Soon-Yi, Farrow accused Allen of sexually abusing
their seven-year-old adopted daughter Dylan. The case never went to trial
and Allen was never indicted.

Allen and Helena Bonham
Carter as a couple in Mighty
Aphrodite

[edit]

Marriage to Soon-Yi Previn

Allen and Soon-Yi married in 1997 and later adopted two
daughters, naming both (Bechet Allen and Manzie Tio Allen) after jazz
musicians (Sidney Bechet and Manzie
Johnson).

[edit]

Surprise appearance in Los Angeles

In 2002
Woody made a surprise appearance at the Academy Awards telecast – his
first ever due to his intense dislike of Los Angeles. It was
part of a tribute to New York after the 9/11
terrorist attacks. He has been instrumental in encouraging filmmakers
to film in his favorite city.

[edit]

Musical Career

Woody Allen performing in Vienne,
France.

Allen studied the clarinet since
adolescence. When he changed his name for show business, he took his first
name from an idol, famed clarinettist Woody Herman. He has
performed publicly at least since the late 1960s, notably with the Preservation
Hall Jazz Band on the soundtrack of Sleeper. "Woody Allen and his New Orleans
Jazz Band" plays every Monday evening at Manhattan's Carlyle
Hotel, specializing in classic New Orleans jazz
from the early twentieth century. The documentary film
Wild Man Blues (directed by Barbara Kopple)
documents a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band, as well as his
relationship with Soon-Yi.

[edit]

Bibliography

Woody Allen
Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

Getting
Even (1971), ISBN
0394473485

Without
Feathers (1975), ISBN
0394497430

Side Effects
(1980), ISBN
0394511042

Woody
Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman (1995),
ISBN
080211556X

[edit]

Books on Woody Allen

Stephan Reimertz : Woody Allen : Eine Biographie.
Reinbek 2000 ISBN
3499611457 (In German)

-- : Woody Allen (rororo-Monographie). Reinbek 2005 ISBN
3499504103 (In German)

Lauren Hill: 'The Essential Woody Allen'

Graham Flashner: 'Fun With Woody'.

[edit]

External links

Wikiquote has a
collection of quotations related to:

Woody
Allen

Woody Allen at the Internet
Movie Database

Senses
of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

The Whore of
Mensa - A Short Story by Woody Allen

Woody Allen Movies

Woody Allen
at celebritywonder.com: many recent quotes and comments attributed
to Allen

Woody Allen and Philosophy

Filmography & analysis
of Allen's Women in Film

La De
Da: Annie Hall as Divine Tragicomedy - essay written for the
City of the Angels Film Festival, 2005.

Ron
Schuler's Parlour Tricks: Woody Allen

Films Directed by
Woody Allen

What's
Up, Tiger Lily? | Take the
Money and Run | Men
of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story | Bananas |
Everything
You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)
| Sleeper |
Love and
Death | Annie Hall |
Interiors |
Manhattan
| Stardust
Memories | A
Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy | Zelig | Broadway
Danny Rose | The
Purple Rose of Cairo | Hannah
and Her Sisters | Radio Days |
September
| Another
Woman | New York
Stories | Crimes
and Misdemeanors | Alice
| Shadows and
Fog | Husbands and
Wives | Manhattan
Murder Mystery | Bullets
Over Broadway | Don't
Drink the Water | Mighty
Aphrodite | Everyone
Says I Love You | Deconstructing
Harry | Celebrity
| Sweet and
Lowdown | Small Time
Crooks | The
Curse of the Jade Scorpion | Hollywood
Ending | Anything
Else | Melinda and
Melinda | Match
Point

References

^
The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity
Industrial Complex by Maureen Orth p233
ISBN: 0805075453

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen"

Categories:
1935
births | Adoptive
parents | American
comedians | American
film directors | American
screenwriters | American
short story writers | Autodidacts
| Best
Actor Oscar Nominee | Best
Director Oscar | Brooklynites
| College
dropouts | Film
actors | Jewish
American actors | Jewish
Americans | Jewish
film directors | O.
Henry Award winners | Prince
of Asturias Award winner

References

^
The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity
Industrial Complex by Maureen Orth p233
ISBN: 0805075453

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen"

Categories:
1935
births | Adoptive
parents | American
comedians | American
film directors | American
screenwriters | American
short story writers | Autodidacts
| Best
Actor Oscar Nominee | Best
Director Oscar | Brooklynites
| College
dropouts | Film
actors | Jewish
American actors | Jewish
Americans | Jewish
film directors | O.
Henry Award winners | Prince
of Asturias Award winner