Woody Allen
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Woody Allen in the movie "Anything Else" 2003 |
Woody Allen (born
Allen Stewart Konigsberg on
December 1,
1935) is an
Academy Award-winning
American film director,
writer,
actor, and
comedian.
His large body of work and cerebral style have made him one of the most widely respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era.
[ Allen's place among the great directors of all-time discussed at filmsite.org] Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on
literature,
philosophy,
psychology,
European cinema and, most importantly,
New York City, where he was born and in which he has lived all his life.
Allen was born in
New York City to a
Jewish family of Austrian and Russian ancestry. His parents, Martin Königsberg (born on
December 25,
1900 in
New York; died on
January 13,
2001) and Netty Cherrie (born in 1908 in
New York; died in January 2002), and his sister, Letty (born 1943), lived in
Flatbush,
Brooklyn. He attended
Hebrew school for eight years, and then went to
Public School 99 (P.S. 99) and to
Midwood High School. During that time, he lived in part on Avenue K, between East 14th and 15th Streets. Nicknamed "Red" because of his red hair, he impressed students with his extraordinary talent at card and magic tricks.[
1]
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 at two with Nature."
At sixteen, he started writing for stars like
Sid Caesar and began calling himself Woody Allen. He was a gifted comedian from an early age and would later joke that when he was young he was often sent to inter-faith summer camps, where he "was savagely beaten by children of all races and creeds."[
2]
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[ Biography on Yahoomovies] due to poor grades. He later briefly attended
City College of New York.
At nineteen, he started writing scripts for
The Ed Sullivan Show,
The Tonight Show,
Caesar's Hour and others television shows
[ IMDb profile]. It was while working for
Sid Caesar that Allen worked alongside
Danny Simon, whom Allen credits for helping him to better structure his writing style. Allen started writing short stories for magazines (mostly the
The New Yorker) and plays the best known of which are
Don't Drink the Water (1966) and
Play It Again, Sam (1969) which both appeared on
Broadway[Biography at BooksFactory.com]. In 1960, he also started a new career as a
stand-up comedian and 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 and made the cover of
Life Magazine in 1969 when
Play It Again, Sam opened on Broadway.
Examples of Allen's standup act can be heard on the albums
Standup Comic and
Nightclub Years 1964-1968, including the famous routine wherein Allen describes bringing a live moose to a costume party. The moose comes in second in the costume contest to the Berkowitzes, a couple in a moose costume. Occasionally, in his standup act, he referred to himself as "Heywood Allen," but it is not clear whether he ever used this form officially in either his professional or personal life.
Woody Allen has an extensive filmography, available in its entirety at List of Woody Allen films. The remainder of this section includes most of its highlights. Early films
His first movie production was
What's New, Pussycat? in
1965, for which he wrote the initial screenplay.
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.
1960s and 1970s
His first conventional 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
Play It Again, Sam, which was directed by
Herbert Ross. All of Allen's early films were 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.
In
1976, he starred in, but did not direct,
The Front, a humorous and poignant account of
Hollywood blacklisting during the 1950s.
Allen's most successful movies were produced in a 10-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 one of Allen's self-proclaimed three best films, along with
Husbands and Wives and
Match Point [ "Woody Speaks!", Premiere Magazine interview by Jason Matloff. [3] ]) and
Hannah and Her Sisters (winner of three
Academy Awards). He also directed the serious drama
Interiors, in the manner of the
Swedish director,
Ingmar Bergman, one of Allen's major influences.
Annie Hall, now a modern classic, marked a major turn to more sophisticated
humor and thoughtful drama. Allen's 1977 film won four Academy Awards.
Annie Hall 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).
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 Sandy Bates, a successful film maker played by Allen, expresses resentment and scorn for his fans. In the film, overcome by the recent death of a friend from illness, Bates states, "I don't want to make funny movies any more." and a running gag throughout the film has various people (including a group of aliens!) telling Bates that they like his films "especially the early, funny ones."
[ [4]] However, by the mid-1980s, 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. He also produced a vividly idiosyncratic tragi-comical parody of documentary:
Zelig.
1990s
His 1992 film
Shadows and Fog is a black and white homage to
German expressionists and features the music of
Kurt Weill. His 1993 film
Manhattan Murder Mystery combined suspense with dark comedy, and starred
Diane Keaton,
Alan Alda, and
Anjelica Huston.
In the late 1990s he returned to lighter movies, such as the musical
Everyone Says I Love You (1996), the comedy
Mighty Aphrodite, for which
Mira Sorvino won an
Academy Award and the jazz
mockumentary Sweet and Lowdown (1999).
Allen made his only
sitcom 'appearance' via telephone in the 1997 episode, "My Dinner with Woody" of the show
Just Shoot Me!, an episode paying tribute to several of his films.
2000s
Small Time Crooks (2000) was his first film with
DreamWorks SKG studio and represented a change in direction: Allen began giving more interviews and making the case that he shouldn't be thought of as intellectual and that his films were not arty. Some saw this as a positive sign that Allen would be returning to his strictly comedic roots; others saw it as pretentiousness. Either way,
Small Time Crooks was a relative success, grossing over $17 million domestically, but Allen's next four films floundered at the box office, including Allen's most expensive film to date,
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (with a budget of $33 million).
Hollywood Ending,
Anything Else, and
Melinda and Melinda were given "rotten" ratings[
5] from film-review website
Rotten Tomatoes and each earned less than five million dollars domestically. Most critics agreed that Allen's films since 1999's
Sweet and Lowdown were subpar, and some critics expressed concern that Allen's best years were now behind him [
6].
Match Point (2005) was one of Allen's most successful films in the past ten years and generally received very positive reviews. The film, set in
London, starred
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and
Scarlett Johansson. It earned more than $23 million domestically (more than any of his films in nearly 20 years [
7]) and was nominated for an Academy Award. In an interview with
Premiere Magazine, Allen stated this was the best film he has ever made.
Allen returned to London to film
Scoop, starring
Hugh Jackman,
Ian McShane,
Kevin McNally and Johansson. The film was released on July 28, 2006 and received mixed reviews.
He is currently filming his next project there also. The film reportedly stars
Colin Farrell,
Ewan McGregor, and
Tom Wilkinson.[
8]
After finishing his third London film, Allen is expected to head to Spain. The director, well-known for his love of New York, has reached an agreement to film a future project in
Barcelona by early 2007. The film will star international and Spanish actors.[
9]
Allen has said that he "survives" on the European market. Audiences there have tended to be more receptive to Allen's films, particularly
France, a country where he has a large fan base.
"In the United States things have changed a lot, and it's hard to make good small films now," Allen said in a 2004 interview. "The avaricious studios couldn't care less about good films - if they get a good film they're twice as happy, but money-making films are their goal. They only want these $100 million pictures that make $500m."[
10]
Actors in his movies
Allen has attracted diverse and talented actors for his films, including
Diane Keaton,
Diane Wiest,
Judy Davis,
Sam Waterston,
Michael Murphy,
Julia Roberts,
Sean Penn,
Michael Caine,
Steve Carell,
Anjelica Huston,
Alan Alda,
Dan Aykroyd,
Drew Barrymore,
Stockard Channing,
Tim Roth,
Carrie Fisher,
Hugh Grant,
Helen Hunt,
Téa Leoni,
Jon Lovitz,
Amanda Peet,
Natalie Portman,
Christina Ricci,
Madonna,
Chloë Sevigny,
Leonardo DiCaprio and
Charlize Theron.
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).
|
Life-size statue of Woody Allen in Oviedo. |
|
Close up of Allen's statue in Oviedo |
Over the course of his career Allen has received a considerable number of
awards and distinctions in
film festivals and yearly national film awards ceremonies, saluting his work as a director, screenwriter and actor
[ IMDb profile]. When premiering his films at festivals, Allen does not screen his motion pictures in competition, thus deliberately taking them out of consideration for possible awards.
* Allen won the 1978
O. Henry Award for his
short story "The Kugelmass Episode" published in
The New Yorker on May 2, 1977.
* 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. Seven other of his movies were nominated for the prize.
* In 1986, Allen won the
Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for
The Purple Rose of Cairo. He was also nominated four times as Best Director, four times for Best Screenplay and twice for Best Actor (Comedy/musical).
* At the 1995
Venice Film Festival, Allen received a Career
Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.
* In 1996, Allen received a lifetime achievement award from the
Directors Guild of America.
* In 2002 Allen won the
Prince of Asturias Award. Subsequently, the town of
Oviedo, Spain erected a life-size statue of Allen. [
11]
* In 2002, Allen received the
Palme des Palmes, a special lifetime achievement award granted by the
Cannes Festival and whose sole other recipient is
Ingmar Bergman [Profile of Woody Allen on the Cannes Festival's website (in French)].
* In a 2005 poll
The Comedian's Comedian, Allen was voted the third greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
Woody Allen has more
Academy Award nominations (14) for best screenplay (original or adapted) than any other writer and is tied for fifth all-time in the directing category with six nominations.
Annie Hall and
Hannah and Her Sisters were nominated for best picture although, as is the tradition at the Academy, the film's producers are the recipients in that category.
Annie Hall won four Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director) while
Hannah and Her Sisters won three, including Best Screenplay for Allen. His actors were also among the frequently nominated in their respective categories and Allen himself was nominated for his role in
Annie Hall.
* 1977 â€" Won â€"
Academy Award for Best Director â€"
Annie Hall* 1977 â€" Won â€"
Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay â€"
Annie Hall (with
Marshall Brickman)
* 1986 â€" Won â€" Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay â€"
Hannah and Her Sisters* Nominated for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for
Interiors,
Manhattan (with
Marshall Brickman),
Broadway Danny Rose,
The Purple Rose of Cairo,
Radio Days,
Crimes and Misdemeanors,
Alice,
Husbands and Wives,
Bullets Over Broadway (with
Douglas McGrath),
Mighty Aphrodite,
Deconstructing Harry,
Match Point.
* Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for
Interiors,
Broadway Danny Rose,
Hannah and Her Sisters,
Crimes and Misdemeanors,
Bullets Over Broadway.
* Nominated for the
Best Actor in a Leading Role in
Annie Hall.
Allen has garnered a number of
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards and nominations for best picture, best director, best actor and best screenplay. In 1997, he received the honorary BAFTA Fellowship for his work.
* 1978 â€" Won â€"
Best Film â€"
Annie Hall* 1978 â€" Won â€" Best Screenplay â€"
Annie Hall (with
Marshall Brickman)
* 1978 â€" Won â€" Best Direction â€"
Annie Hall* 1980 â€" Won â€" Best Film â€"
Manhattan* 1980 â€" Won â€" Best Screenplay â€"
Manhattan (with
Marshall Brickman)
* 1985 â€" Won â€" Best Screenplay â€"
Broadway Danny Rose * 1986 â€" Won â€" Best Film â€"
The Purple Rose of Cairo* 1986 â€" Won â€" Best Screenplay â€"
The Purple Rose of Cairo * 1987 â€" Won â€" Best Screenplay â€"
Hannah and Her Sisters * 1987 â€" Won â€" Best Direction â€"
Hannah and Her Sisters* 1993 â€" Won â€" Best Screenplay â€"
Husbands and Wives * Nominated for best film for
Hannah and Her Sisters,
Radio Days,
Crimes and Misdemeanors.
* Nominated for
best actor for
Annie Hall,
Manhattan,
Hannah and Her Sisters.
* Nominated for best director for
Manhattan,
Crimes and Misdemeanors.
* Nominated for best screenplay for
Zelig,
Radio Days,
Crimes and Misdemeanors,
Bullets Over Broadway (with Douglas McGrath).
Harlene Rosen
In 1956, at age 20, Allen married Harlene Rosen, a philosophy student. The two acrimoniously divorced in
1962.
Rosen, whom Allen referred to in his standup act as "the Dread Mrs. Allen," later
sued Allen for
defamation due to comments at a TV appearance shortly after their divorce. Allen tells a different story on his mid-1960s standup album
Standup Comic. In his act, Allen said that Rosen sued him because of a joke he made in an interview. Rosen had been
sexually assaulted outside her apartment, and according to Allen, the newspapers reported that she "had been violated." In the interview, Allen said, "Knowing my ex-wife, it probably wasn't a
moving violation."
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 marry again until 1997.
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. They never married. Allen, even after his marriage to
Soon-Yi Previn, has referred to Keaton as the great love of his life.
Starting around 1980, Allen began a 12-year relationship with actress
Mia Farrow, who had leading roles in several of his movies.
Farrow and Allen never married, but they
adopted two children together: Dylan Farrow (who changed her name to Eliza and is now known as Malone) and Moses Farrow (now known as Misha); and had one biological child, Satchel Farrow (now known as
Ronan Seamus Farrow). Allen did not adopt any of Farrow's other biological and adopted children, including Soon-Yi Farrow Previn (now known as
Soon-Yi Previn).
Allen and Farrow separated in
1992 after Farrow discovered nude photographs Allen had taken of Previn, and Allen admitted to a relationship with Previn.
During a subsequent protracted legal battle, Farrow accused Allen of sexually abusing their seven-year-old adopted daughter Malone. The case never went to trial and Allen was never indicted.
Shortly after separating from Farrow in 1992, Allen openly continued his relationship with
Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow's adopted daughter. Even though Allen and Previn denied he was ever her
stepfather, the relationship drew much scrutiny for its perceived impropriety. At the time, Allen was 57 and Previn was 22.
Allen and Previn married in 1997. The couple later adopted two daughters, naming them Bechet and Manzie after jazz musicians
Sidney Bechet and
Manzie Johnson.
After Allen and Farrow separated, a long, public legal battle for the custody of their three children began. During the proceedings, Farrow alleged that Allen had sexually molested their adopted daughter Malone, who was then seven-years old.
The judge eventually concluded that the sex abuse charges were inconclusive.
[Brozan, Nadine. "Chronicle," The New York Times, May 13, 1994.] but called Allen's conduct with his daughter "inappropriate."
[Henneberger, Melinda. "Connecticut Prosecutor Won't File Charges Against Woody Allen," The New York Times, September 25, 1993]Farrow ultimately won the custody battle over their children. Allen was denied visitation rights with Malone and could only see Ronan under supervision. Misha, who was then 14, chose not to see his father.
In a 2005
Vanity Fair interview
[Biskind, Peter. "Reconstructing Woody," Vanity Fair, December 2005 [12]], Allen estimated that, despite the scandal's damage to his reputation, Farrow's discovery of the photographs was "just one of the fortuitous events, one of the great pieces of luck in my life. [...] It was a turning point for the better."
Of his relationship with Farrow, he said "I'm sure there are things that I might have done differently. [...] Probably in retrospect I should have bowed out of that relationship much earlier than I did." Just one year after the legal battle, Allen briefly considered Farrow for the role of his wife in his film
Mighty Aphrodite, a suggestion quickly rejected by the casting director.
Allen is a passionate fan of
jazz which is often featured prominently in his movies' soundtracks. He has played the
clarinet since adolescence and chose his stage name from an idol, famed clarinetist
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 play 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 Previn. The band has released two
CDs:
The Bunk Project (1993) and the soundtrack of
Wild Man Blues (1997).
Meetin' WA is a short interview of Allen by renowned French director
Jean-Luc Godard.
Wild Man Blues (directed by
Barbara Kopple). (1997)
*In 2002,
Time Magazine film critic
Richard Schickel directed the cable-television documentary
Woody Allen: a Life in Film which interlaces interviews of Allen and clips of his films.
Waiting for Woody Allen is a 2004 short film parody of
Samuel Beckett's
Waiting for Godot.
*From 1976 to 1984, Stuart Hample ran
Inside Woody Allen a comic strip based on Allen's film persona.
*Allen spent at least 30 years undergoing
psychoanalysis, sometimes as often as three days a week. Most of his films contain a psychoanalysis scene. Even the film
Antz, a cartoon where he only voices
Z, the lead character, begins with a classic piece of Allen analysis
schtick.
Moment Magazine says "It drove his self-absorbed work". [
13] John Baxter, author of
Woody Allen - A Biography, wrote "Like
Catholic confession, Allen's form of analysis let the penitent go free to
sin again," and that "Allen obviously found analysis stimulating, even exciting."
Allen says he ended his psychotherapy visits around the time he began his relationship with Previn. He says he still is
claustrophobic and
agoraphobic.
*In 2002, Allen made a surprise appearance at the Academy Awards telecast, even though he was not nominated for any awards. It was part of a tribute to New York after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He and many of his films are closely associated with New York City and he has spent many years encouraging filmmakers to film in his favorite city. He had long avoided the Oscars, skipping the show even when he was winning awards.[14]
* Allen did not, as is commonly thought, write for Your Show of Shows. [15]*Don't drink the water;: A comedy in two acts (1967), ASIN B0006BSWBW
*Play It Again, Sam (1969), ISBN 039440663X
*Getting Even (1971), ISBN 0394473485
*God: A comedy in one act (1975), ISBN 0573622019
*Without Feathers (1975), ISBN 0394497430
*Side Effects (1980), ISBN 0394511042
*Lunatic's tale (1986), ISBN 1556280017
*Complete Prose of Woody Allen (1992), ISBN 0517072297. (Collection of Allen's short stories first published in Getting Even, Without Feathers and Side Effects.)
*Three One-Act Plays: Riverside Drive Old Saybrook Central Park West (2003), ISBN 0812972449
*Writer's Block: Two One Actplays'' (2005), ISBN 0573626308The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity Industrial Complex by Maureen Orth p233 ISBN 0805075453
Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman (1995), ISBN 080211556X
Woody Allen - A biography; John Baxter (1999) ISBN 078670666X
Woody Allen: Eine Biographie; Stephan Reimertz, Reinbek, (2000) ISBN 3499611457 (in German)
Woody Allen; Stephan Reimertz, (rororo-Monographie), Reinbek, (2005) ISBN 3499504103 (in German)
The Essential Woody Allen; Lauren Hill
Fun With Woody, The Complete Woody Allen Quiz Book (Henry Holt),Graham Flashner
*Woody Allen: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series), R. E. Kapsis and K. Coblentz eds., (2006) ISBN 1578067936
*"Woody plots film return to London" by A Correspondent, Times Online, November 30 2005
*"Why I Love London" by Simon Garfield, Guardian Unlimited'', August 8 2004
*An essay by Victoria Loy on Woody Allen's career
*IMP Poster Gallary
*Woody Allen Video - Billy Graham interview
*Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
*The Whore of Mensa; Short Story by Woody Allen
*Woody Allen Movies
*Woody Allen all around information
*Celebritywonder: Quotes and comments
*Filmography & analysis of Allen's Women in Film
*La De Da: Annie Hall as Divine Tragicomedy Essay Extended version of essay
*Ron Schuler's Parlour Tricks: Woody Allen
*Woody Allen Bibliography
*A (slightly outdated) profile from the New York Film Academy
