Woody Allen biography

Synopsis

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 1, 1935, Woody Allen is an American film director, screenwriter, actor and author who is best known for his romantic comedy films containing elements of parody and slapstick. He is also known for writing strong and well-defined characters for his female stars. Allen directed and starred in two of his most famous films, Annie Hall and Manhattan. Among his featured performers were Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow, both of whom he was romantically involved with.

Younger Years

Born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935, in Brooklyn, New York, actor, director and screenwriter Woody Allen legally changed his name to Heywood Allen when he was 17 years old. Coming from an often volatile and loud Jewish middle-class family in the Midwood section of Brooklyn gave Allen all the material he needed to start writing monologues and performing stand-up comedy while still in high school. His early life of turmoil in an overcrowded apartment would ultimately give him years of fodder for what would become a prolific and award-winning career in motion pictures and screenwriting. It would also give him an intense need for solitude later in life.

Allen's parents were second-generation Jewish immigrants. His father, Martin, worked as a salesman, jewelry engraver, taxi driver and bartender, and even found work as a pool hustler and bookmaker. Martin's need to bounce from one job to another was to some degree passed down to his son, who, though making a much better living than his father, would inherit the same wanderlust by jumping from one project to the next when he got bored. His mother, Nettie, had very little patience with her red-headed son, and, thusly, would frequently shout at and spank him. His sister, Letty, was born in 1943.

Early Career

Allen attended New York University in 1953, promptly failing a course in motion picture production. Discouraged, he dropped out of school and soon began writing for television, including Sid Caesar's popular Your Show of Shows. His work won him an Emmy Award nomination, but Allen grew bored and soon tried his hand at stand-up comedy, becoming popular in the New York City comedy club circuit. His comic persona was that of a long-suffering "nebbish"—a personality he held onto throughout the years.

A prolific writer and director, Allen often appeared in his own plays and films, including What's New, Pussycat? in 1965 and his first play, Don't Drink the Water, on Broadway the following year. He made his directorial debut in 1966 with What's Up, Tiger Lily?. His career really began to soar with Take the Money and Run in 1969, followed by Bananas, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask), Play It Again, Sam and Sleeper. Throughout his career, Allen wrote humorous short prose pieces, many of which were originally published in The New Yorker magazine.

Career Highlights

Allen's career breakthrough came in 1977 with Annie Hall, starring Diane Keaton, with whom Allen became romantically involved.

He starred, directed and co-wrote the movie with Marshall Brickman, and it went on to win four Academy Awards, including for best picture, best director and best screenplay. Manhattan, released in 1979, was his homage to his beloved New York City, a setting for many of his future films.

Over the next two decades, Allen produced mostly hits and some misses, and a combination of comedies and drama, including 1982's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy--the first of Allen's films to star his new love, Mia Farrow. In 1986, Hannah and Her Sisters earned Allen his second Oscar (best original screenplay) and broke box-office records, taking in $18 million.

By the 1990s, Allen was ignoring Hollywood for the most part, producing low-budget films that included Husbands and Wives, Bullets over, Mighty Aphrodite and Sweet and Lowdown.

The 'Scandal'

In the biggest scandal of his career, Allen made tabloid headlines in 1992 by dating and eventually marrying then-girlfriend Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn--marking the start of a contentious two-year custody battle. Farrow eventually won sole custody of their children, and Allen was ordered to pay $3 million to Farrow. "What was the scandal?" Allen told Reuters in an interview. "I fell in love with this girl, married her ... but people refer to it all the time as a scandal, and I kind of like that in a way because when I go I would like to say I had one real juicy scandal in my life."

Allen and Soon-Yi, who married in 1997, adopted two daughters: Bechet and Manzie Tio.

Later Career

Allen began the new millennium with a string of comedies and mixed reviews, including Match Point in 2005, Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008 and the romantic comedy Midnight in Paris in 2011, for which he won the 2012 Oscar for best original screenplay. To Rome with Love, a 2012 episodic comedy that featured an international cast, marked his first on-screen role in six years.