Woody Allen was born in 1935 in Brooklyn, New York. He became interested in magic tricks and clarinet as a boy. He began his career writing jokes for newspapers and television at age 15. Allen eventually found success as a stand-up comedian before transitioning to writing and directing films. Some of his most famous films include Annie Hall and Manhattan. Allen continues to write and direct films almost yearly, with his most recent films set in European cities like London, Barcelona, Paris, and Rome. Despite his pessimistic views on life, Allen's films are often lighthearted comedies.

1. Let’s go bananas with
Woody Allen
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2. Name: Allan Stewart Konigsberg
DOB: 1 December 1935
Place of Birth: New York, New York, USA
Occupation: Director
Woody Allen was born December
1, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York. As a
young boy he became intrigued with
magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two
hobbies that he continues today.
He broke into show business at age
15 when he started writing jokes for a
local paper, receiving $200 a week. He
later moved on to write jokes for talk
shows but felt that his jokes were being
wasted. His agents, Charles Joffe and
Jack Rollins, convinced him to start doing
stand-up and telling his own jokes.
Reluctantly he agreed and, although he
initially performed with such fear of the
audience that he would cover his ears
when they applauded his jokes, he
eventually became very successful at
stand-up.
After performing on stage for a
few years, he was approached to write a
script for Warren Beatty to star in:
"What's New Pussycat?" It was from this
experience that Woody realized that he
could not work on a film without
complete control over its production.

3. Woody's theoretical directorial debut was in "What's Up, Tiger
Lily?"; a Japanese spy flick that he dubbed over with his own comedic
dialogue about spies searching for the secret recipe for egg salad. His
real directorial debut came the next year in the mockumentary “Take
the Money and Run”. He has written, directed and, more often than
not, starred in about a film a year ever since while simultaneously
writing more than a dozen plays and several books of comedy.

4. Although his
stories and style have
changed over the
years, he is regarded
as one of the best
filmmakers of our
time because of his
views on art and his
mastery of
filmmaking.

5. —Can a man love two women at the same time?
— More than two. (Laughs) I think you can. That’s why romance is
a very difficult and painful thing, a very hard, very complicated
thing. You can be with your wife, very happily married, and
then you meet some woman and you love her. But you love
your wife, too. And you also love that one. Or if she’s met some
man and she loves the man and she loves you. And then you
meet somebody else and now there are three of you. (Laughs)
Why only one person?

6. In 1992 Woody Allen’s longtime companion and lead actress, Mia
Farrow, found his nude Polaroids of 21-year-old Soon-Yi Farrow Previn,
one of her adopted children. Farrow accused Allen of sexually abusing their
adopted daughter, Dylan, then seven. Allen indignantly denied her charges.
“I never did anything. I would never molest a child,” he said during a
hearing. He was cleared by a panel of doctors, but Farrow eventually won
full custody of Dylan. Allen was ultimately denied visitation rights with
Dylan. Later Woody married Soon-Yi, they have 2 children.

7. “If my films don’t show a profit, I know I’m
doing something right”.
—Woody Allen

8. Best films

9. —Do you think the pleasures of writing are related to the sense of
control art provides?
— It’s a wonderful thing to be able to create your own world
whenever you want to. Writing is very pleasurable, very
seductive, and very therapeutic. Time passes very fast when
I’m writing—really fast. I’m puzzling over something, and time
just flies by. It’s an exhilarating feeling. How bad can it be? It’s
sitting alone with fictional characters. You’re escaping from the
world in your own way and that’s fine. Why not?

10. Woody Allen is a great
writer: his works are rich in
delicate irony and humor.
For example, here’s the
story about a man who
dropped dead of a heart attack
and was reincarnated as a
lobster. He finds himself in a
tank at a posh Upper East Side
seafood restaurant.

11. —Mr. Allen, do you truly believe that happiness in life is
impossible?
— This is my perspective and has always been my perspective on
life. I have a very grim, pessimistic view of it. I always have
since I was a little boy; it hasn’t gotten worse with age or
anything. I do feel that’s it’s a grim, painful, nightmarish,
meaningless experience and that the only way that you can be
happy is if you tell yourself some lies and deceive yourself.

12. Despite his pessimistic views on life, Woody Allen
continues to direct light, dreamy and beautiful movies.
Last 7 movies he has made over the past seven years are
directed in London, Barcelona, Paris and Rome. Allen even
says that he dreams of being a ‘foreign filmmaker’.
“I always wanted to be a foreign filmmaker,” he says
seriously. “But I’m from Brooklyn so I couldn’t be because I
wasn’t foreign. But all of a sudden, through happy accidents,
I’ve become one, to such a degree that I’m even writing
subtitles. So I’m thrilled with that”.

13. Go watch “To Rome with Love”!
Storyline
Set in the romantic city of Rome.
The intertwining stories of a
worker who wakes up to find
himself a celebrity, an architect
who takes a trip back to the street
he lived on as a student, a young
couple on their honeymoon, and a
frustrated opera director who has a
talent for discovering talented
singers.

14. Woody Allen is 77, but he successfully
manages to understand people of all ages.
He looks at all the things that happen
to him with humor, he treats with irony
even his aging:
—What’s your take on getting older?
— I find it a lousy deal. There is no advantage
getting older. You don’t get smarter, you
don’t get wiser, you don’t get more
mellow, you don’t get more kindly,
nothing good happens. Your back hurts
more, you get more indigestion, your
eyesight isn’t as good, you need a hearing
aid. It’s a bad business getting old and I
would advise you not to do it if you can
avoid it. It doesn’t have a romantic quality.

15. — Will you ever stop making films?
— I simply enjoy working. You shoot a film, and the result could have
always been better. You try again, and fail once more. In some ways I
find it enjoyable. You never lose sight of your goal. I don’t do my job to
make money or to break box office records, I simply try things out. What
would happen if I were to achieve perfection at some point? What would
I do then?

16. Webliography
• Woody Allen, The Art of Humor No. 1
• Reconstructing Woody
• Woody Allen: “the whole thing is tragic”
• Woody Allen
• DeviantART
• Tails of Manhattan