| Woody Allen  AKA Allan Stewart Konigsberg
Born: 1-Dec-1935
Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY
Gender: Male
Religion: Agnostic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Film Director, Actor Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Annie Hall Allen Stewart Konigsberg started calling himself "Woody" as a young man, when he spent most of his free time at the movies. He was always quick with a quip, and by the time he was 18 he was writing one-liners for Guy Lombardo, Danny Kaye, and Bob Hope. During the 1950s he wrote for The Tonight Show and a short-lived Buddy Hackett sit-com called Stanley. Some sources say he wrote for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, but his name is not present in the show's credits.
In the early 1960s he wrote for Candid Camera and appeared in some of the show's gag sketches. He also began performing his own material as a stand-up comedian, exaggerating his neuroses for comedic effect. In 1965, he was hired to write the screenplay for a Peter Sellers-Peter O'Toole comedy, What's New, Pussycat. Allen used that paycheck to purchase the U.S. rights to a cheesy Japanese spy movie, dubbing in a new plot and releasing it as What's Up, Tiger Lily? Through the rest of the 60s and 70s, Allen made hilarious comedies before he decided to "quit clowning around" and began making more serious films.
The standard line on Allen's film career is that his early comedies were brilliant, while his later "more serious" films are more hit-and-miss. His best films, such as Manhattan, Annie Hall, or Hannah and Her Sisters, have elements of serious drama mingled with comedy. Allen has written and directed a new film almost every year since the late 70s, to varying critical reaction and small but consistent box office. Crimes and Misdemeanors and Mighty Aphrodite were memorable; Hollywood Ending, Deconstructing Harry, and several others were not. Still, he's widely considered one of America's greatest filmmakers, and famous actors still speak of being "in a Woody" as if it's the next best thing to winning an Oscar.
Through the 70s and 80s he was usually plowing his leading lady, first Diane Keaton and later Mia Farrow. In 1992 Allen and Farrow broke up, and Allen took up with Farrow's 22-year-old adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. It was quite a season for tabloid headlines, and if you were alive on planet Earth you heard the details: Farrow discovered nude photos Allen had taken of Previn while Farrow and Allen were still a couple, and she accused Allen of sexually abusing their seven-year-old daughter, Dylan.
Investigators found no evidence of abuse, but in 1996 Allen was barred from seeing then 11-year-old Dylan, whose name has since been changed to Eliza, when she made it clear to the court that she hated her father. Dylan later changed her name to Eliza and then Malone, reportedly to avoid intrusive media inquiries about allegedly being abused by Allen. Now an adult, she still maintains that the allegations are true. Allen and Dylan/Eliza/Malone's step-sister Previn were married in 1997, so Allen's ex-lover Farrow is now his mother-in-law.
Allen is beloved as an artiste in France. "First", he says, "they think I'm an intellectual because of my glasses. Second, they think I'm an artist because my films lose money. Neither one is true".
Allen says he spent eight years in psychoanalysis, then "got up from the couch one day and offered my analyst a draw. We shook hands". He legally changed his name to Woody Allen in 1952. Allen plays jazz clarinet at Michael's Pub every Monday evening, and has written six plays and four books. Father: Martin Konigsberg (jeweler, b. 25-Dec-1900, d. 13-Jan-2001)
Mother: Nettie Cherrie (accountant, b. 8-Nov-1906, d. 27-Jan-2002)
Sister: Letty Aronson (producer, b. 1943)
Wife: Harlene Rosen Konigsberg (m. 1954, div. 1957)
Wife: Louise Lasser (actress, m. 2-Feb-1964, div. 1969)
Girlfriend: Diane Keaton (actress, together 1970s)
Girlfriend: Mia Farrow (actress, together 1980-92, one son)
Son: Ronan Farrow (human rights activist, b. 19-Dec-1987)
Wife: Soon-Yi Previn (Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, m. 23-Dec-1997)
High School: Midwood High School, Brooklyn, NY (1953)
University: New York University (expelled)
University: City College of New York (expelled)
American Academy of Arts and Letters
amfAR National Council
Bill Bradley for President
Oscar for Best Director 1978 for Annie Hall
Oscar for Best Screenplay 1978 for Annie Hall (shared)
Oscar for Best Screenplay 1987 for Hannah and Her Sisters
Oscar for Best Screenplay 2012 for Midnight in Paris
Golden Globe 1986 for The Purple Rose of Cairo (best screenplay)
Nebula 1975 for Sleeper (best dramatic presentation)
Palme des Palmes 2002 (lifetime achievement)
Endorsement of Foster Grant
Endorsement of Smirnoff Vodka 1966
Draft Deferment: Korea 4-F
Polygraphed
Lost Child Custody
Jewish Ancestry
Risk Factors: Claustrophobia, Marijuana
FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
Wonder Wheel (14-Oct-2017)
Café Society (11-May-2016)
Irrational Man (15-May-2015)
Magic in the Moonlight (25-Jul-2014)
Blue Jasmine (26-Jul-2013)
To Rome with Love (20-Apr-2012)
Midnight in Paris (11-May-2011)
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (15-May-2010)
Whatever Works (22-Apr-2009)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (17-May-2008)
Cassandra's Dream (18-Jun-2007)
Scoop (28-Jul-2006)
Match Point (12-May-2005)
Melinda and Melinda (17-Sep-2004)
Anything Else (27-Aug-2003)
Hollywood Ending (3-May-2002)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (5-Aug-2001)
Small Time Crooks (19-May-2000)
Sweet and Lowdown (4-Sep-1999)
Celebrity (7-Sep-1998)
Deconstructing Harry (26-Aug-1997)
Everyone Says I Love You (6-Dec-1996)
Mighty Aphrodite (13-Sep-1995)
Don't Drink the Water (18-Dec-1994)
Bullets Over Broadway (16-Sep-1994)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (18-Aug-1993)
Husbands and Wives (14-Sep-1992)
Shadows and Fog (30-Mar-1992)
Alice (25-Dec-1990)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (13-Oct-1989)
New York Stories (1-Mar-1989)
Another Woman (18-Nov-1988)
September (18-Dec-1987)
Radio Days (30-Jan-1987)
Hannah and Her Sisters (7-Feb-1986)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1-Mar-1985)
Broadway Danny Rose (27-Jan-1984)
Zelig (15-Jul-1983)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (16-Jul-1982)
Stardust Memories (26-Sep-1980)
Manhattan (14-Mar-1979)
Interiors (2-Aug-1978)
Annie Hall (20-Apr-1977)
Love and Death (10-Jun-1975)
Sleeper (17-Dec-1973)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (6-Aug-1972)
Bananas (28-Apr-1971)
Take the Money and Run (18-Aug-1969)
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (2-Nov-1966)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Fading Gigolo (7-Sep-2013)
The Unbelievers (29-Apr-2013) · Himself
Woody Allen: A Documentary (30-May-2012) · Himself
To Rome with Love (20-Apr-2012) · Jerry
Scoop (28-Jul-2006) · Sid Waterman
The Outsider (22-Apr-2005) · Himself
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (11-Sep-2003) · Himself
Anything Else (27-Aug-2003) · David Dobel
Hollywood Ending (3-May-2002)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (5-Aug-2001)
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (17-Feb-2001) · Himself
Picking Up the Pieces (26-May-2000)
Small Time Crooks (19-May-2000) · Ray
Light Keeps Me Company (5-Feb-2000) · Himself
Sweet and Lowdown (4-Sep-1999) · Himself
Antz (19-Sep-1998) · Z [VOICE]
Wild Man Blues (26-Aug-1997) · Himself
Deconstructing Harry (26-Aug-1997)
Everyone Says I Love You (6-Dec-1996)
Mighty Aphrodite (13-Sep-1995)
The Sunshine Boys (1995) · Al Lewis
Don't Drink the Water (18-Dec-1994)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (18-Aug-1993) · Larry Lipton
Husbands and Wives (14-Sep-1992)
Shadows and Fog (30-Mar-1992) · Kleinman
Scenes from a Mall (22-Feb-1991)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (13-Oct-1989) · Cliff Stern
New York Stories (1-Mar-1989)
Hannah and Her Sisters (7-Feb-1986) · Mickey
Broadway Danny Rose (27-Jan-1984) · Danny Rose
Zelig (15-Jul-1983) · Leonard Zelig
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (16-Jul-1982) · Andrew
Stardust Memories (26-Sep-1980) · Sandy Bates
Manhattan (14-Mar-1979) · Isaac
Annie Hall (20-Apr-1977) · Alvy Singer
The Front (17-Sep-1976) · Howard Prince
Love and Death (10-Jun-1975) · Boris
Sleeper (17-Dec-1973) · Miles Monroe
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask (6-Aug-1972)
Play It Again, Sam (4-May-1972)
Bananas (28-Apr-1971) · Fielding Mellish
Take the Money and Run (18-Aug-1969)
Casino Royale (13-Apr-1967) · Jimmy Bond
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (2-Nov-1966) · Himself
What's New, Pussycat (22-Jun-1965) · Victor
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