Allen, Woody

(Allen Stewart Konigsberg)

(b. 1935)

   American actor and film director. Allen was born and educated in New York and the city frequently plays a significant role in his films. He started his career as a comic scriptwriter and subsequently in the 1960s became a stand-up comic. At this time he developed his stock Woody Allen character - neurotic, Jewish, self-deprecating, confused, surprisingly successful and a lover and fearer of beautiful women. His first film was Take the Money and Run (1969). This was followed by such movies as Sleeper (1973), Annie Hall (1977), Interiors (1978), Manhattan (1979), Stardust Memories (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Husbands and Wives (1992) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). His films are generally comedies, but they explore serious Jewish-American themes such as assimilation, the attraction of non-Jewish women and the role of psychoanalysis in modern life. Despite, or perhaps because of these preoccupations, Allen has been accused of anti-Semitism. He rarely refers overtly to Jewish practice or ritual, but certainly the glimpses that are offered are less than enthusiastic. Allen has achieved huge success in his chosen field and enjoys an enormous popular following. In his own personal life he seems to display many of the characteristics of his film persona and he was the subject of worldwide tabloid notoriety as a result of a sensational child custody dispute with the actress Mia Farrow. Most commentators believe that his films are semi-autobiographical and faithfully reflect many of the perplexities of the Jewish-American experience.