Woody Allen

• 1. Brooklyn Jokes And Television Scripts

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  Allan Stewart Konigsberg was born on the 30th of November 1935 at Mount Eden Hospital in Bronx, New York City. He grew up in Brooklyn's Midwood neighborhood with his younger sister Letty Aronson. His parents were Jewish immigrants who spoke German, Hebrew, and Yiddish at home. Allen began writing short jokes when he was fifteen years old. The next year he offered them to various Broadway writers for sale. One writer named Abe Burrows wrote back that Allen's stuff was dazzling. Burrows sent letters of introduction to Sid Caesar, Phil Silvers, and Peter Lind Hayes. These men immediately sent Allen a check for just the jokes Burrows included as samples. By age nineteen, Allen joined the NBC Writer's Development Program in 1955. He earned $25 a week initially working for humorist Herb Shriner. Later he made $1,500 a week while working for Caesar. He worked alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon during this period. In 1962 alone, he estimated that he wrote 20,000 jokes for various comics. Dick Cavett recalled seeing Allen sit at a typewriter after breakfast until sunset. Allen once said nothing makes him happier than tearing open a ream of paper.

• 2. From Slapstick To Annie Hall

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  Allen directed his first movie What's Up Tiger Lily in 1966. He was disappointed with the final product of his earlier film What's New Pussycat so he decided to direct every film he wrote thereafter except Play It Again Sam. His mockumentary crime comedy Take The Money And Run came out in 1969. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it a feature-length two-reel comedy that was very special and eccentric. Bananas followed in 1971 with Louise Lasser as his romantic interest. Roger Ebert noted that if people were not laughing during such comedies then you were dead. Sleeper arrived in 1973 and reunited Allen with Keaton. Love And Death set during the Napoleonic era received praise from Vincent Canby who called it Allen's grandest work at the time. Annie Hall opened in 1977 and became his seminal work. Diane Keaton played Annie Hall while Allen portrayed Alvy Singer. The film won four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress for Keaton. Critics like Pauline Kael wrote that Allen had found a nonaggressive way to deal with urban pressures.

• 3. Academy Records And Critical Shifts

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  Allen holds the record for most Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay with sixteen nominations. He has won four Academy Awards total across his career spanning eight decades. Three of his films have been nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture: Annie Hall, Hannah And Her Sisters, and Midnight In Paris. His first and only appearance at the Academy Awards occurred at the 2002 Oscars where he received a standing ovation. Comedy Central ranked Allen fourth on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians in 2004. A UK survey ranked him third-greatest comedian. The Writers Guild of America ranked his screenplay for Annie Hall first on its list of the 101 Funniest Screenplays in 2015. Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. One was Annie Hall selected in 1992 as culturally significant. Manhattan joined it later as historically or aesthetically significant. Allen shuns award ceremonies citing their subjectivity yet critics like Roger Ebert and Barry Norman highly praised his work throughout the decades.

• 4. Mia Farrow And Public Allegations

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  Allen had a professional and personal relationship with actress Mia Farrow from 1980 to 1992. They collaborated on thirteen films together during that time. Farrow had seven children when they met including three biological sons from her marriage to composer André Previn. She adopted two Vietnamese girls and one South Korean girl named Soon-Yi Previn. In July 1985 Farrow adopted a baby girl Dylan Farrow while Allen assumed a parental role toward her. Their intimate relationship ceased completely after Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow's birth in December 1987. In 1991 Farrow wanted to adopt another child but Allen began a relationship with Soon-Yi Previn who was twenty-one years old at the time. On the 19th of December 1987, Farrow gave birth to their son Satchel. The couple separated after he began this new relationship in 1991. In 1992 Farrow publicly accused him of sexually abusing their adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. The allegation gained substantial media attention but Allen was never charged with a crime. He has denied the allegation throughout his life. Allen married Previn in 1997 and they have adopted two children.

• 5. London Films And Streaming Deals

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  Allen traveled to London where he made Match Point in 2005 which became one of his most successful films of the decade. It starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson and earned more than $23 million domestically. Vicky Cristina Barcelona premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival to rapturous reviews. The film won Best Motion Picture Musical Or Comedy at the Golden Globe awards. Penélope Cruz received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. Midnight In Paris debuted at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival on the 12th of May 2011. It became his highest-grossing film making $151 million worldwide on a $17 million budget. Amazon Studios announced a full-season order for Crisis In Six Scenes on the 14th of January 2015. This marked the first time he developed a television show. The series is a comedy set during the 1960s focusing on suburban family chaos. A Rainy Day In New York began production in September 2017 but was dropped by Amazon Studios in February 2019. Allen filed a lawsuit for $68 million alleging vague reasons for termination over baseless allegations. The case settled and dismissed later that year.

• 6. Clarinet Nights At The Carlyle

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  Allen has performed publicly at least since the late 1960s including with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the soundtrack of Sleeper. He plays songs by Sidney Bechet George Lewis Johnny Dodds Jimmie Noone and Louis Armstrong. Woody Allen And His New Orleans Jazz Band have been playing every Monday evening at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan for many years. They specialize in New Orleans jazz from the early 20th century. The documentary Wild Man Blues directed by Barbara Kopple chronicles a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band. The band released albums The Bunk Project in 1993 and the soundtrack of Wild Man Blues in 1997. In 2005 Allen Eddy Davis and Conal Fowkes released the trio album Woody With Strings. Kirk Silsbee of the Los Angeles Times reviewed a concert suggesting Allen should be regarded as a competent musical hobbyist. His piping tone and strings of staccato notes cannot approximate melodic phrasing but his earnestness counts for something. Allen stated he wanted to make a film about the origins of jazz in New Orleans titled American Blues costing between $80 and $100 million.