Woody Allen was born Allen Stewart Konig-sberg in Brooklyn’s Flatbush section on December 1, 1935. He attended Midwood H.S. His parents, Martin and Nettie Konigsberg, were Orthodox Jews. His father worked in an assortment of short-lived jobs and his mother kept books for a florist. According to Woody, “Their virtues were ‘God and carpeting.’�

About his childhood in Brooklyn, Woody says, “I was in analysis for years because of a traumatic childhood, because I was breast-fed through falsies.�

School did not agree with Woody, whether it be public or Hebrew school. The only subject he had shown any interest in was literature. His childhood was spent reading Batman comics, listening to the radio and following the New York Giants. When he started his career as a comedy writer, one of the programs he wrote for was Sid Caesar’s “Show of Shows.� He became a standup comic, writing his own material. Woody is now one of filmdom’s top producers and directors. He has directed dozens of films, many of which he also acted in. Woody is also an accomplished jazz musician. To the screen he brought the paradoxical combination of shyness, ineptness and obsession with sex and made it an international hit.

His scant regard for the Establishment was demonstrated when he failed to show up to accept an Oscar for Best Director of Annie Hall in 1978. The same film brought him an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. He received another Oscar in 1986 for best original screenplay for Hannah and Her Sisters. He has been nominated for Best Director six times total.

Allen dated actress Mia Farrow for 12 years and they had three children together, Dylan, Moshe and Satchel. They separated in 1992 after Farrow found Allen had nude pictures of her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. After the separation, Allen and Previn became involved and married in 1997. They have two adopted children together.

Among the films in which Allen has acted, written, directed, or co-directed are What’s New Pussycat (1965), What’s Up Tiger Lily? (1966), Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), Play It Again, Sam (1972), Manhattan (1979), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Scenes from a Mall (1991), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Match Point (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Whatever Works (2009). —Vernon Parker and P. Neidl

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