Actors - Woody Allen

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	Actors - Woody Allen

Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is an 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. He writes and directs his own movies and has acted in many of them as well.

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.

Early years

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 on 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 and then to Midwood High. Nicknamed "Red" because of his red hair, he impressed students with his extraordinary talent at card and magic tricks.

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 show stars like Sid Caesar and began calling himself Woody Allen. He was a gifted comedian from an early age. He 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."

College

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 due to poor grades. He later briefly attended City College of New York.

Comedy writer

At nineteen, he started writing scripts for The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, Your Show of Shows and others. In 1957, he won his first Emmy Award.

He started writing prose and plays, and in 1960, started a new career as a stand-up comedian and also 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.

Examples of Allen's standup act can be heard on the album Standup Comic, 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.

Film career

Early films

His first movie production was What's New, Pussycat?
in 1965, for which he wrote the screenplay. It was a largely unpleasant experience for Allen as he was trapped in Paris for six months during the production. Furthermore, the studio never showed much respect for his script, altering the film to the point where it bore little resemblance to Allen's original vision.

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 directing 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 his own play called Play It Again, Sam
, which was directed by Herbert Ross. All of Allen's early films are 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.

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