WOODY ALLEN

Woody Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg in Brooklyn in 1935, and he was a comedy writer and stand-up comedian who got his big break writing (and acting in) What's New Pussycat in 1965. He bought the rights to What's Up, Tiger Lily?, a terrible Japanese James Bond rip-off, and dubbed in absurd English dialog. The first of his "regular" movies was Take the Money and Run, which he wrote, directed, and starred in ("I have a gub in my pocket"). He followed this with Bananas, Play It Again, Sam, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Sleeper, Love and Death, and finally his masterpiece, Annie Hall (nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this film), one of the most remarkable bursts of creativity the movies have ever seen! Allen grew tired on making "funny movies" and he next directed and wrote (but did not act in) his Ingmar Bergman inspired Interiors (nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this film), which I thought marvelous, but many fans asked that he return to his old format. He did somewhat with Manhattan and Stardust Memories (both of which I feel are on a par with his earlier movies). Since that time I feel he has completely lost his way, both personally and professionally, and after dutifully seeing each of his movies for several years I finally stopped seeing any of them. But for the period from 1969 to 1979, Allen was the world's greatest comedy director/star, on a level not seen since the days of Chaplin and Keaton! Some of his other movies include: Crimes & Misdemeanors (nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this film), Broadway Danny Rose (nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this film), and Bullets Over Broadway (nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for this film). Woody Allen's personal life has been controversial, and includes allegations of molestation by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. He also had started a relationship with Soon-Yi Previn before partner Mia Farrow discovered nude photos of her in Allen's home. She was Mia's adopted daughter, 21 at the time, and he was 57. As of 2021, Allen is still alive at the age of 85, and he's been married to Soon-Yi since 1997.