Woody Allen

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Woody Allen in 2016 at the Cannes International Film Festival

Heywood "Woody" Allen (born December 1 , by his own account November 30, 1935 as Allan Stewart Konigsberg in the Bronx , New York ) is an American film director , author , actor and comedian . He is also a passionate jazz musician .

Allen is one of the most prolific film directors today. He has been a screenwriter and director of over 50 films and has written numerous short stories, plays and columns . He was nominated for an Oscar 24 times and received the award four times: in 1978 for Der Stadtneurotiker in the categories of Best Director and Best Screenplay , 1986 with Hannah and her sisters and 2012 with Midnight in Paris , each for the best screenplay. Allen did not personally accept any of these awards.

Life

Family, childhood and school

Heywood Allen in high school days (1953)

Allan Stewart Konigsberg was born to Jewish parents at Mt. Eden Hospital in the Bronx , New York , and grew up in Brooklyn . His younger sister Ellen (* 1943) is a film producer. Both parents, father Martin Konigsberg, a diamond cutter (* December 25, 1900, † January 13, 2001) and mother Nettie Cherry Konigsberg (* November 8, 1906, † January 27, 2002), were in the Lower East Side of Growing up in Manhattan . The family lived in Flatbush , a Jewish neighborhood. The grandparents were German- and Yiddish- speaking immigrants from Russia and Austria-Hungary . In Allen's family, Yiddish was still fluent alongside English. Although the parents were not Orthodox Jews , they sent their son to a Hebrew school for eight years. When asked about his Jewish origin, Allen stated:

“Religions are not worth a penny to me. Nor do I raise my children in the Jewish tradition. I don't believe in God and I find all religions stupid anyway. "

- Woody Allen : Interview with the NZZ on Sunday , July 22, 2012

He then graduated from Public School 99 and Midwood High School, where Red , the skinny redhead's nickname, first attracted attention - with his outstanding card game talent (a popular saying at Midwood High was “Never play cards with Konigsberg "). He developed a certain interest in the theater , but especially in the cinema and the radio shows of the 1940s, such as Duffy's Tavern or The Great Gildersleeve . Allen describes himself as a sports fan. He played the clarinet for up to two hours a day .

Beginnings in show business

To supplement his pocket money, he began to write gags for the David O. Alber agency , which were sold to columnists of major daily newspapers . Thanks to his talent and the relationships he made, he was soon allowed to work for entertainment stars like Sid Caesar . As a 16-year-old newcomer in show business , Konigsberg decided to use the stage name "Woody Allen", from which the first name was borrowed from the clarinetist Woody Herman . In 1952, at the age of 17, he had his real name changed to Heywood Allen . He chose the first name Heywood in reference to the jazz pianist Eddie Heywood .

Despite his lucrative job, he took - for the sake of his parents - a Communications Arts Course at New York University , where he was hardly ever seen. A defining event during his student days was probably the fact that, following the advice of his dean, he went to see a psychoanalyst .

In 1956 he married Harlene Rosen, a 17- year-old philosophy student. The young couple moved to Manhattan , Woody rose from gag supplier to screenwriter and separated from his wife. In 1962 the marriage was divorced again.

Breakthrough as a comedian

The Ed Sullivan Show , the Tonight Show, and a few others were among his customers. In 1957, nominated for an Emmy , he stepped out of the shadows of his clients and in front of the camera for the first time. Around that time, his marriage to Harlene fell apart. Until she sued him for two million dollars in 1969, she was the main subject of his gags, which he now also published in the form of prose. He was now starting to write and perform plays, but all his ambition was to become a stand-up comedian , a solo entertainer that had become fashionable in the mid-1950s.

His first appearance in 1960 in the nightclub Duplex ( Greenwich Village ) turned into a fiasco. His managers called him the worst comedian they had ever seen, and yet they managed to make a ploy out of the shy and awkward demeanor and thus create an unmistakable style with which Allen should become an insider tip. It certainly took time and effort, but over the years Allen created the fictional character "Woody" from it, who until recently appeared almost unchanged in most of his films.

Success as a filmmaker

All in the early 1970s

Before his first film production in 1965 (screenplay for What's New, Pussy? ), Allen had been writing jokes for 14 years, most of which he used or sold as a stand-up comedian. He was well on his way to becoming a national celebrity with his unusual intellectual style and fabricated stories from his personal life. He took his first steps in the new medium according to the same recipe that had given him so much success on stage.

Around this time he met the young actress Louise Lasser , whom he married in 1966. The marriage ended in divorce in 1971, but Lasser was allowed to play even bigger roles in Bananas and What You've Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Never Dare To Ask . His films between 1965 and 1975 are characterized primarily by their combination of absurd language and visual jokes.

In the absence of formal means of his own, Allen made use of existing narrative concepts, which he shed new light on through satire, such as What you always wanted to know about sex but didn't dare to ask , a parody of the 1960s educational films. Another characteristic of his early work is that (at least according to his own statement) up to fifty percent of each film was improvised. Many of the stylistic devices used, especially the travesty and the sometimes very surreal content, can also be found in his short stories, which were published in book form in 1971, 1973 and 1980 .

From the mid-1970s, the humorous part in his films was pushed back in favor of a more dramatic plot. During this time, his then partner Diane Keaton often acted as play partner and female lead actress. At the end of the decade, Mia Farrow finally entered his life, who from then on appeared in very different roles in his films.

Separation from Mia Farrow, custody battle and abuse allegations

Mia Farrow in May 2008 as UNICEF ambassador in Bangui
Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn in Venice in 1996
Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival

The film Husbands and Wives marks the end of the professional collaboration between Allen and Mia Farrow, who had been a couple since the early 1980s. Their relationship broke up when Mia Farrow discovered nude photos of her 21-year-old adoptive daughter Soon-Yi Previn (born 1970 or 1972; exact date of birth is unknown as her age was estimated at the time of adoption) and Allen in 1992 thereupon the relationship with this admitted. The ensuing legal battle over custody of the remaining children put everyone in great distress.

Mia Farrow had adopted Soon-Yi Previn together with her then husband André Previn , which is why Allen was not allowed to adopt Soon-Yi - in contrast to Farrow's other adopted children, Dylan and Moses. Farrow and Allen also had their son Satchel Farrow since 1987, who later renamed himself Ronan Farrow . According to the actress, Ronan Farrow's biological father may be her ex-husband, Frank Sinatra .

Mia Farrow won the legal battle; she was given sole custody of Dylan and Satchel on June 7, 1993. Allen's adoptive son Moses was allowed to make his own decisions and refused any further contact with Allen (only about 20 years later and after a phase of estrangement from Mia Farrow did he contact Allen and Soon-Yi again). "The court questioned his parental aptitude on virtually every point and called Allen's behavior towards the children 'abusive and callous,'" the New York Times said on June 8, 1993 .

Regarding Allen’s relationship with Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter Soon-Yi, the court documents in the custody dispute between Allen and Farrow and Mia Farrow’s own memory show that Allen had “had little to.” Until 1990 (Soon-Yi was around 18 to 20 years old at the time) do with any of the Previn children, (but) had the least to do with Soon-Yi ". Mia Farrow is said to have encouraged Allen to strengthen contact with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi. It is worth noting that Farrow lived with her children in an apartment on Central Park West during her relationship with Allen . Allen, however, lived in his apartment on Fifth Avenue . Allegedly, Allen never stayed in Mia Farrow's apartment in the twelve years of his relationship. In December 1997, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn married, who in turn adopted two daughters.

A controversial element of the custody battle were the allegations against Allen since August 1992 that he had sexually abused his then seven-year-old adopted daughter Dylan. However, there was no legal clarification: the investigating authorities could not find any evidence of the sexual assaults described by the girl. A forensic report concluded that Dylan Farrow had not been molested. The responsible public prosecutor, who considered the expert's approach to be inadequate on several points, found in his final assessment, however, a reasonable suspicion that the abuse had taken place, which would have justified a state charge. He justified his ultimate waiver of criminal proceedings against everyone with his concern for the well-being of the child to be protected: He wanted to spare Dylan, who had already been damaged by the separation of the parents and the custody dispute, the expected negative consequences of such a procedure.

The abuse allegations against Woody Allen have been publicly discussed again since 2013, since Dylan Farrow, who had previously been represented by her mother, first spoke publicly about her experience as a victim of abuse in a conversation with Vanity Fair magazine . In early 2014, she specified the allegations in an open letter on the New York Times website .

Moses Farrow, the joint adoptive son of the former couple, then contradicted the portrayal of his sister and described it as the product of an internal family vengeance and alienation campaign against everyone. Allen himself published a final statement, written in his own words, in the New York Times two days later , in which he confirmed this representation and, in turn, raised allegations against Mia Farrow. Dylan's other brother, Ronan Farrow, sided with his sister with an in-depth article for the Hollywood Reporter in May 2016. The occasion was a long interview with Woody Allen that had been printed shortly before by the magazine, in which the allegations of abuse were only mentioned in an incorrect marginal note, to which a later correction was submitted. In his text, Farrow complained in addition to the often incorrect presentation of the facts in the specific case of his sister, a fundamentally often lacking public support for victims of sexual abuse and pointed out parallels to the case of the prominent comedian Bill Cosby .

In March 2020, his autobiographical book Apropos of Nothing was published by a New York publisher (German edition under the title Quite by the way ). The publication was preceded by protests, the originally intended publisher withdrew in the course of this.

plant

New York trilogy

Woody Allen's early comedies often have darker undertones, such as Boris Gruschenko's Last Night , The Sleeper or Bananas . His film Der Stadtneurotiker can still be seen as a break from his previous films. In form or content, it refers less to cinematic models, but more than before shows an autobiographical coloring. Together with cameraman Gordon Willis , with whom Allen was working for the first time, Allen used unusual methods to create style breaks that are characteristic of his further work. Allen, meanwhile 40 and newly separated from Diane Keaton , takes stock of his life so far for the first time.

In 1978 he presented his first serious film, Inner Life . Everyone who does not appear as an actor in this film tells of the breakup of a middle-class extended family. The emptiness and anonymity of the interior - hence the original title Interiors - contrasts the emotional confusion of the protagonists living there. Inner workings are considered a clear homage to the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman .

In Manhattan in 1979, Allen again incorporated more comedic elements. In contrast to most of his films, Manhattan does not begin with the typical Allen opening credits - black screen with white opening titles, underlaid with jazz music. Instead, you see a sequence of New York views in black and white, with Allen using widescreen images in Panavision for the first and so far only as a director (2.35: 1). One hears everyone who tries several times to formulate a beginning, breaks off and starts again and finally declares: "New York was his town, and it always would be." Then the sound of great symphonic music by George Gershwin . Allen can be seen here as a crisis-ridden television writer Isaac Davis, who stands between different women and can only decide at the end. The city neurotic and Manhattan are considered Allen's greatest successes to date.

The last part of the so-called New York trilogy, Stardust Memories from 1980, is heavily based on Federico Fellini's 8½ . Like its two predecessors, Stardust Memories has a distinctly autobiographical touch, even if Allen later claimed that there were no parallels between the protagonist of his film and himself. It is set in New York and is about a filmmaker and his great disdain for his audience.

1980s

Some film critics are of the opinion that Allen's films during this period can only be compared with Soviet or Polish examples; in fact, he has never cared much for Hollywood and the US film industry. He wasn't even at the Academy Awards when The Urban Neurotic won four Academy Awards.

As for his films, two lines can be distinguished. On the one hand, he continues to develop his comedies, which are now becoming tragicomedies. The story becomes more complex, it often takes place on several levels of action and reality. The films are also more expressive than his early comedies, their message is not masked with clumsy gags. Almost all of them have a sad ending, such as The Purple Rose of Cairo , in which the protagonist is even more unhappy and lonely at the end than at the beginning. In A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy , Allen shows himself influenced by William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and its amorous entanglements in 1982 . With Zelig he presented in 1983, a satire about a man who constantly adapts to its environment like a chameleon, who Hasidic is Jews Hasidic Jews and Nazis to a Nazi. In this film, which seems to be staged with excerpts from newsreels like a documentary, Allen portrays a person whose impersonality drives him through the ages. In 1984 Allen told Danny Rose on Broadway about a New York artist agent who got lost in mafia-like circles, and portrayed the stand-up comedian milieu that formed the basis of his own career.

With his comedy Hannah and Her Sisters , Allen achieved yet another great success, both commercially and with critics. The film received three Academy Awards; for Best Screenplay went to Woody Allen. On the other hand, he is experimenting with alternative formats; For example, with September or Another Woman he is shooting dramas that get by without any comedy. Critics accused him of only trying to copy Bergman, whom he admired, with such films; however, they overlooked Allen's independent approach. A film about his childhood, Radio Days , which is easiest to describe as a costume film, is also made. In contrast to the equally autobiographical play The Floating Lightbulb , this was allowed to continue to be shown even after its premiere, as the play pulled Allen back again. In crimes and other trivialities , he portrays a deadly murderous woman, but does not avoid the occasional comedic element. This was the first time Allen worked with Bergman cameraman Sven Nykvist .

1990s

After crimes and other trivialities , Allen gradually found a new style. In the place of his black-eyed tragic comedies, others have now appeared that seem lighter and livelier again. In films like Alice , in the opinion of many critics, he struggles to come to a convincing ending. But these newer films still stand for a development that is dramatically founded in contrast to the early comedies, with a positive tenor in contrast to the films of the eighties.

In Husbands and Wives joined Allen in 1992 his series of films from Mia Farrow. The film is about love and the ability to build relationships, whereby loyalty is clearly rejected.

For a short time, Diane Keaton replaced Mia Farrow in 1993 at Manhattan Murder Mystery , which is in the broadest sense a continuation of the urban neurotic . The plot was intended as a subplot for this film, but was canceled due to time constraints. Afterwards Allen helped an actress to an Oscar in two consecutive films ( Dianne Wiest and Mira Sorvino ), later Sean Penn and Samantha Morton were nominated for Sweet and Lowdown .

In 1995, Allen turned mistress Aphrodite . Formally very strict, in often long planned sequences, the director (and main actor) tells of the boring life with his wife ( Helena Bonham Carter ) and of the affair with a sweet but rather simple-minded call girl (Mira Sorvino), who, without knowing it, is the mother of his adoptive son. The film shines with a sporadic Greek choir that was shot in an original amphitheater, namely the one in Taormina , Sicily. The choir takes on the narration of the general plot - chanting and dancing - but is increasingly involved in what is happening in New York. At some point, the rag-clad Greek choir leader sits in Allen's Upper East Side luxury apartment and helps him with adultery by securing the slip of paper with one hand, on which Allen, concealed from his wife, has the phone number of the call girl with whom he will later have a relationship. A downright typical Allen scene, in which banal reality is mixed with fictional characters from other eras. He had constructed something similar again in Mach's, Sam with Humphrey Bogart. There, as here, he used the controversial, often serious image of these characters to heighten the comedy.

With Julia Roberts , Goldie Hawn , Drew Barrymore and others, he shot the musical All say: I love you, based on well-known jazz standard songs in 1996 in New York, Venice and Paris . With Harry beside himself , Allen in 1997 did justice to the original title Deconstructing Harry - which is not by chance alluding to deconstructivism - in the imagery . He deconstructs the physical environment, uses short jump cuts and tells of a man who is seen by other people only out of focus.

In 1998 Allen filmed Celebrity. Rich. Famous. , a society comedy in which he did not appear himself, but presented a self-deprecating Leonardo DiCaprio , who played a detached Hollywood star and satirically breaking his own real existence. In the same year Allen voiced Ant Z in the Warner Brothers flick Antz . In the German dubbed version, this was done by his standard voice actor Wolfgang Draeger . Z-4195 - so the exact name - shows many facets of the characters known, conceived and embodied by Woody Allen; At the beginning of the film, Z is lying on a psychiatrist's couch.

2000s and Allen's European phase

Allen in 2006

In 1999 the aforementioned film Sweet and Lowdown was released , furthermore in 2000 narrow-gauge crooks with Hugh Grant , 2001 Under the Spell of Jade Scorpio , 2002 Hollywood Ending , 2003 Anything Else and 2004 Melinda and Melinda . In some German cinemas the films were shown with a delay in the original with subtitles; so was Anything Else presented to the German public in September of 2004.

The 2005 thriller Match Point was hailed at festivals. Many critics spoke of a new, strengthened Allen. It was his first film that was played and produced exclusively in London and thus the first film of its “European phase”. His next two films, the crime comedy Scoop (2006) and the drama Cassandras Traum (2007), also took place in London. In the latter, Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor played two brothers in the London working class who are drifting into crime. In 2008 came the comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona with Scarlett Johansson , Rebecca Hall , Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz , which won an Oscar for best actress in a supporting role for her performance .

At the beginning of September 2008, Allen made his highly acclaimed debut as an opera director with a production of Giacomo Puccini's one-act play Gianni Schicchi . The production, produced in collaboration with the Los Angeles Opera , was arranged through the agency of General Director Plácido Domingo , whom Allen had promised an opera two decades earlier.

In 2009, the comedy Whatever Works followed with comedian Larry David in the lead role. The film opened the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The tragic comedy I see the man of your dreams (You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger) followed in 2010, which premiered in Cannes. The cast list includes Freida Pinto , Josh Brolin , Lucy Punch , Anthony Hopkins , Antonio Banderas and Naomi Watts .

Late work

Allen and lead actor Owen Wilson at the premiere for the film Midnight in Paris 2011 at the Cannes International Film Festival

Allen continues to make one film a year, so that his late work is also of considerable size. In 2010 he shot Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard . The romantic comedy about a successful American screenwriter (Wilson), who is transported back to Paris in the 1920s, opened the 64th Cannes Film Festival in 2011 . The film was a huge hit at both the box office and critics. Allen received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the script in 2012 . In addition, Midnight in Paris received Oscar nominations in the categories “Best Film”, “Best Director” and “Best Production Design”.

In 2012, the comedy episode To Rome With Love followed . The cast list includes Jesse Eisenberg , Ellen Page , Penélope Cruz , Alec Baldwin , Roberto Benigni , Judy Davis , Greta Gerwig and Alison Pill . Woody Allen himself also took on a role again. The film tells four bizarre stories episodically , all of which take place in Rome. The film is based on Boccaccio 70 from 1962, which was shot by Federico Fellini , Luchino Visconti , Mario Monicelli and Vittorio De Sica .

That same year, Allen also took on an actor role in John Turturro's comedy Fading Gigolo . His film Blue Jasmine , a free adaptation of Tennessee Williams ' play Endstation Sehnsucht , was released in theaters in 2013 . The leading role was played by Cate Blanchett , who won an Oscar for best actress for her performance. Sally Hawkins received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress and Allen received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

In 2014, his 43rd film, the comedy Magic in the Moonlight, shot in the south of France with Emma Stone and Colin Firth in the leading roles, was shown in German cinemas. In the same year he shot Irrational Man in Newport (Rhode Island) , which premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The main roles are Joaquin Phoenix and, as in Magic in the Moonlight , Emma Stone. The US theatrical release was in July 2015, and it was released in German cinemas on November 15, 2015.

On May 11, 2016, Allen opened the 69th Cannes International Film Festival with his out-of-competition film Café Society . Allen had already opened the film festival with Hollywood Ending in 2002 and Midnight in Paris in 2011 . Since Manhattan (1979), Café Society is the 14th film that the director has shown outside of the competition in Cannes. The film is about a young man (played by Jesse Eisenberg ) who went to Hollywood during the 1930s to try his luck in film. There he falls in love and gets to know the eponymous café-society culture. Other roles include Kristen Stewart , Blake Lively , Parker Posey and Steve Carell . The German theatrical release was on November 10, 2016.

In spring 2016, Allen also shot the six-part series Crisis in Six Scenes for Amazon Video , which has been available since September 30, 2016. Allen's 46th film Wonder Wheel , starring Justin Timberlake and Kate Winslet, celebrated its world premiere on October 15, 2017 at the New York Film Festival and was released in German cinemas on January 11, 2018.

On September 11, 2017, the shooting of Allen's film A Rainy Day in New York with Jude Law and Selena Gomez in the leading roles began in New York . After the completion of the film, however, it was withheld by the producing Amazon Studio in order not to give the MeToo debate any further impetus. The film therefore did not appear in American cinemas, but started in German cinemas on December 5, 2019.

In the summer of 2019 Allen shot his 51st film with the provisional title Rifkin's Festival in San Sebastian, Spain . The leading roles are cast with Christoph Waltz , Gina Gershon , Elena Anaya and Louis Garrel .

German dubbing voice

Woody Allen was dubbed from 1965 to 2006 by Wolfgang Draeger as the standard speaker. During that time, he was only voiced by other voice actors in two films. Horst Sachtleben gave him his voice in the film Casino Royale (1967) . In the theatrical version of What you always wanted to know about sex, but didn't dare to ask , it was spoken by Harald Juhnke , who was replaced by Draeger in the 1987 ZDF television version. Woody Allen was even of the opinion that the German dubbing voice of Wolfgang Draeger suited him better than his own.

Since the film To Rome With Love , Allen has been voiced by Freimut Götsch in his new films , as Allen is dissatisfied with Draeger's voice.

Since then, Draeger has only spoken to Allen once more in Suddenly Gigolo , in which Allen had no say.

Woody Allen as a jazz musician

Woody Allen with band, Jerry Zigmont (left) and Simon Wettenhall

Allen regularly plays clarinet in the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band , a jazz band in the New Orleans style ( traditional jazz ). First the band played every Monday in the club "Alexander's", from the 1970s to 1990s in Michael's Pub , then for a long time at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan.

Allen goes on tour with his band regularly, in March 2010 and March 2011 he was in Germany for three concerts each, and in July 2017 his tour took him back to Germany. During the European tour in 2019, he only gave one concert in Munich on June 26th. The 1996 European tour was the subject of the documentary Wild Man Blues by Barbara Kopple (also released on DVD and the soundtrack on CD on RCA ). The band has already toured Greece, Turkey and South America. Occasionally Allen appears with her at festivals, such as the 2008 Montreal Jazz Festival .

He regularly uses jazz music in his films, for example in the film Sweet and Lowdown about a jazz guitarist who was inspired by Django Reinhardt and his short time in the USA. Also Swing the soundtrack to the film was -oriented Radio Days , set in the 1940s. In the film The Sleeper , Allen himself appeared as a jazz musician, with the Preservation Hall Orchestra in New Orleans and the New Orleans Funeral Ragtime Orchestra.

He named two children adopted with his partner Soon-Yi Prévin after the jazz musicians Manzie Johnson and Sidney Bechet : Manzie and Bechet.

Woody Allen's New York Townhouse, 118 East 70th Street (2015 photo)

Trivia

Woody Allen writes all of his scripts on an old Olympia SM 3 typewriter from 1952. He rewrites the text corrections, then cuts them out with scissors and staples them over the old text.

During his time in high school he trained for several months for the amateur boxing tournament Golden Gloves . However, his parents then refused the required written consent for his participation.

In January 2006, Allen bought a townhouse for himself and his family on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at 118 East 70th Street. The purchase price of $ 25.9 million - for a comparatively modest domicile - was considered very high even by New York standards. His neighbor is Susan Weber Soros, the ex-wife of billionaire George Soros .

Filmography (selection)

Legend: B - book, D - actor, R - director

Other works

Statue of Woody Allen in Oviedo , Spain

Plays

Legend: World premiere

  • 1966: Be careful, drinking water! (Premiere 1966)
  • 1969: Play it Again, Sam (WP 1969)
  • 1975: Death and God (Premiere January 13, 1978, Teaneck , New Jersey )
  • 1988: A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (theater adaptation of the film; Premiere 1988)
  • 1995: Central Park West (WP 1995)
  • 1996: Balls over Broadway (theater adaptation of the film Bullets over Broadway ; premiere: Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus 1996)
  • 2003: Old Saybrook (published in German in the volume "Central Park West - Three One-Acts")
  • 2003: Riverside Drive (published in German in the volume "Central Park West - Three One-Acts")
  • 2004: A Second Hand Memory (not yet published in German)
  • 2011: Honeymoon Motel (not yet published in German)

Musicals

  • 2014: Bullets over Broadway , UA: April 10, 2014 at the St. James Theater , 44th Street W., Manhattan, New York City.

Books

  • Getting Even , 1971; German edition: Like you, like me . Rogner & Bernhard, Munich 1978; Rowohlt, Reinbek 1980, ISBN 3-499-14574-X .
  • Without Feathers , 1975; German edition: Without Leit no Freud . Rogner & Bernhard, Munich 1979; Rowohlt, Reinbek 1981, ISBN 3-499-14746-7 .
  • Side Effects , 1980; German edition: side effects . Rogner & Bernhard, Munich 1981; Rowohlt, Reinbek 1983, ISBN 3-499-15065-4 .
  • Central Park West , 2006; German edition: Central Park West . Three pieces. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-596-16997-6 .
  • Mere Anarchy , 2007; German edition: Pure anarchy . Kein & Aber, Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-03-695504-9 .
  • Apropos of Nothing , Arcade Publishin, New York 2020; German edition: By the way . Rowohlt, Hamburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-498-00222-0 .

Awards

  • Academy Awards
    • 1978: Oscar in the categories Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Der Stadtneurotiker
    • 1987: Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Hannah and Her Sisters
    • 2012: Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Midnight in Paris
    • from 1978 to 2014 also nominated 19 times as a director or author and 1978 as a leading actor for an Oscar
  • Golden Globe Awards
    • 1986: Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for The Purple Rose of Cairo
    • 2009: Golden Globe for Best Comedy for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    • 2012: Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for Midnight in Paris
    • 2014: Cecil B. DeMille Award for his life's work
  • Writers Guild of America
    • 1987: WGA Awards (Screen) for Best Original Screenplay for Crime and Other Small Things
    • 1990: WGA Awards (Screen) for Best Original Screenplay for Hannah and her sisters
  • Directors Guild of America
    • 1996: Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Berlinale 1975
    • 1975: Silver bear for life's work
    • 1975: Prize of the Union International de la Critique de Cinema (UNICRIT) for Boris Grushenko's Last Night
  • British Academy Film Awards
    • 1978: BAFTA Award in the categories Best Director and Best Screenplay for Der Stadtneurotiker
    • 1980: BAFTA Award for Best Script for Manhattan
    • 1986: BAFTA Award for Best Film and Best Original Screenplay for The Purple Rose Of Cairo
    • 1987: BAFTA Award for Best Film and Best Original Screenplay for Hannah and her sisters
    • 1993: BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for Husbands and Wives
    • 1997: Honorary Award
  • Cannes International Film Festival
  • César
    • 1980: César for Best Foreign Film for Manhattan
    • 1986: César for Best Foreign Film for The Purple Rose of Cairo
  • Bodil
    • 1978: Bodil Award for the best non-European film for Der Stadtneurotiker
    • 1980: Bodil Award for the best non-European film for Manhattan
    • 1984: Bodil Award for the best non-European film for Zelig
    • 1986: Bodil Award for best non-European film for The Purple Rose of Cairo
    • 1987: Bodil Award for the best non-European film for Hannah and her sisters
  • David di Donatello
    • 1984: David di Donatello in the Best Foreign Actor category for Zelig
    • 1985: David di Donatello for Best Screenplay / Foreign Film for Broadway Danny Rose
    • 1987: David di Donatello in the Best Screenplay / Foreign Film category for Hannah and her sisters
    • 1990: David di Donatello in the category Best Screenplay / Foreign Film for Crime and Other Trifles
    • 2006: David di Donatello in the Best European Film category for Match Point
  • Fotogramas de Plata
    • 1974: Fotogramas de Plata for the best foreign actor
    • 1986: Fotogramas de Plata for best (foreign) film for The Purple Rose of Cairo
  • Venice International Film Festival
    • 1983: Italian Pasinetti Prize. Film journalists association for the best film for Zelig
    • 1995: Golden Lion for life's work
  • Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani
  • Pompeu Fabra University , Barcelona
    • 2007: Honorary doctorate / Ph. Honoris Causa
  • British Fantasy Award
    • 2012: Best Screenplay for Midnight in Paris

In addition, a three-digit number of nominations for the above and other film awards as well as the Prince of Asturias Award in 2002. He was also elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001 and the American Philosophical Society in 2010. He has been an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1987 .

literature

  • Hans Günther Pflaum , Vincent Canby , Bert Koetter et al .: Woody Allen. In: Peter W. Jansen , Wolfram Schütte (ed.): Woody Allen - Mel Brooks (= film series. Volume 21). Carl Hanser, Munich / Vienna 1980, ISBN 3-446-12854-9 .
  • Thomas J. Kinne : Elements of Jewish Tradition in Woody Allen's work , Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-631-48530-1 .
  • Stephan Reimertz : Woody Allen. A biography. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2000, ISBN 3-499-61145-7 .
  • Berndt Schulz : Woody Allen Lexicon. Everything about the author, director, actor, comedian, entertainer and private citizen from Manhattan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-276-8 .
  • Stig Björkman: Woody Allen on Woody Allen - In Conversation with Stig Björkman. Grove Press, New York 2004, ISBN 0-8021-4203-6 .
  • Jean-Michel Frodon: Woody Allen in conversation with Jean-Michel Frodon. Diogenes, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-257-23525-9 .
  • Charles LP Silet: The films of Woody Allen: critical essays. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Md. a.] 2006, ISBN 978-0-8108-5736-0 .
  • Jürgen Felix, Roman Mauer: [Article] Woody Allen. In: Thomas Koebner (Ed.): Film directors. Biographies, descriptions of works, filmographies. 3rd, updated and expanded edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2008 [1. Ed. 1999], ISBN 978-3-15-010662-4 , pp. 10-19 [with references].
  • Tom Shone: Woody Allen - His films, his life , Knesebeck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86873-816-2 .
  • Natalio Grueso: Woody Allen - A very personal look at the film genius , Atlantik, Hamburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-455-70018-3 .
  • Johannes Wende (ed.): Woody Allen (= film concepts , vol. 52), edition text + kritik, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-86916-767-1 .
  • Timo Rouget: The Comedies of Woody Allen. In: Michael Braun (among others) (Ed.): Komik im Film. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2019, pp. 191–219.

Film documentaries

  • “Wild man Blues”, USA 1997, length 105 min., Director: Barbara Kopple; Documentary about Allen's career as a jazz musician. The filmmaker accompanied Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band on their European tour in 1996.
  • “Hollywood Profile: Woody Allen”, German TV documentary from 2001, director: Georg Stefan Troller , 45 min.
  • “Woody Allen: A Documentary”, USA 2011, length 113 min., Director: Robert B. Weide, the film started in Germany on July 12, 2012. In October 2012 the film was released on DVD in a 69 min. longer version on the German market.

Web links

Wikiquote: Woody Allen  - Quotes
Commons : Woody Allen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Woody Allen: By the way . Rowohlt, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-498-00222-0 , pp. 17 .
  2. ^ Norwood SH, Pollack EG: Encyclopedia of American Jewish history. ABC-CLIO, 2008, Volume 2, p. 491 (see Google Books )
  3. ↑ John Baxter: Woody Allen: A Biography . Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc .: New York (1999), p. 178 (quoted at: http://www.adherents.com )
  4. ↑ What is your advice on love affairs, Mr. Allen? , Interview, faz.net, August 26, 2012 , accessed on August 26, 2012
  5. ↑ Hannah Louise Grugel: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Woody Allen. whatculture.com, accessed February 2, 2014 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e Robert B. Weide : The Woody Allen Allegations: Not So Fast. The Daily Beast , January 27, 2014, accessed February 3, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Woody Allen Enrages Connecticut Prosecutor From Dylan Farrow Case; New York Times Won't Run Maco's Response ( Memento from May 14, 2016 on the Internet Archive ) In: Connecticut Today, February 12, 2014, accessed May 14, 2016
  8. ^ Dylan Farrow: An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow. The New York Times, February 1, 2014, accessed February 2, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Adopted daughter charges - allegations of abuse against Woody Allen , Neue Zürcher Zeitung on October 14, 2013, accessed on February 2, 2014
  10. ↑ Sexual violence: Adopted daughter accuses Woody Allen of abuse , Der Spiegel on February 2, 2014, accessed on February 2, 2014
  11. ↑ Adopted daughter accuses director of abuse , Die Zeit on February 2, 2014, accessed on February 2, 2014
  12. ↑ Woody Allen accuses adopted daughter of abuse , Die Welt February 2, 2014, accessed February 2, 2014
  13. ↑ Dylan Farrow's Brother Moses Defends Woody Allen . Interview with People Magazine on February 5, 2014 (accessed February 7, 2014)
  14. ↑ Moses Farrow on Woody Allen: "My mother taught me to hate him," Spiegel Online, February 5, 2014 (accessed February 7, 2014)
  15. ↑ Woody Allen speaks out , New York Times , February 7, 2014 (accessed February 8, 2014)
  16. ↑ Of course, I did not sexually molest Dylan , Die Welt , February 8, 2014 (accessed February 8, 2014)
  17. ↑ a b c Ronan Farrow: My Father, Woody Allen, and the Danger of Questions Unasked, In: Hollywood Reporter of May 11, 2016 (English)
  18. ↑ The Woody Allen Interview, In: Hollywood Reporter, May 4, 2016, accessed May 14, 2016.
  19. ↑ https://www.zeit.de/kultur/literatur/2020-03/kultregisseur-woody-allen-memoiren-proteste Autobiography by Woody Allen appears in the USA, zeit.de, accessed on March 24, 2020.
  20. ↑ cf. Nina Wachenfeld: Woody Allen stages his first opera at welt.de , September 10, 2008
  21. ↑ festival-cannes.com
  22. ↑ filmstarts.de ( Memento from November 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ^ Andrew Pulver: Woody Allen gets his groove back after years of decline. , Guardian September 30, 2011 , accessed October 1, 2011
  24. ↑ Complete cast list for Woody Allen's “The Bop Decameron”. filmstarts.de, June 21, 2011, accessed June 13, 2013 .
  25. ↑ To Rome With Love Chris Knipp 2012 ( Memento from March 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  26. ^ Fading Gigolo Archives. The Woody Allen Pages, accessed June 13, 2013 .
  27. ↑ http://www.woodyallenpages.com/2013/10/first-images-of-woody-allens-2014-film-magic-in-the-moonlight-with-emma-stone-colin-firth/
  28. ↑ Woody Allen's Café Society to open the 69th Festival International du Film ( Memento from March 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) at festival-cannes.com, March 29, 2016 (accessed on March 29, 2016).
  29. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.de/eine-fuerchterliche-schande-jude-law-verteidigt-unveroeffentlichten-woody-allen-film-1588679/
  30. ↑ //www.zeit.de/news/2019-08/21/gina-gershon-dankt-woody-allen-und-erntet-fan-kritik/
  31. ↑ Synchronized files
  32. ↑ Deutschlandradio Kultur: Zeitreisen from February 11, 2009
  33. ^ Radio Bremen: Kulturjournal from December 1, 2010
  34. ↑ quotemeter.de: Popcorn and role change: The new Woody
  35. ↑ Modcast # 20: Interview with Wolfgang Draeger (ex-voice actor for Woody Allen)
  36. ↑ Woody Allen and Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band ( February 2, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive )
  37. ↑ Small exhibition "Historical Office Technology". stb-betzwieser.de, archived from the original on November 12, 2013 ; Retrieved June 13, 2013 .
  38. ↑ Woody Allen explains Copy & Paste June 14, 2012
  39. ↑ Eric Lax: Woody Allen. A biography. Kiepenheuer and Witsch, 1992.
  40. ↑ Michael Calderone, On Woody's Block , in: Observer: Real Estate , February 27, 2006.
  41. ↑ Soros' Ex-Wife Ditches Impressive UES Townhouse For $ 31M
  42. ^ To Rome with Love. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 8, 2015 .
  43. ↑ Every ball has a punchline in FAZ of May 28, 2014, p. 13
  44. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter A. (PDF; 945 kB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved April 9, 2018 .
  45. ^ Member History: Woody Allen. American Philosophical Society, accessed April 9, 2018 .
  46. ↑ Honorary Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 11, 2019 .
  47. ^ Woody Allen: A Documentary. movieworlds.com, accessed June 13, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Allen, Woody
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Konigsberg, Allen Stewart (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comedian, director, writer, and actor
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1935 or December 1, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Bronx , New York , United States