Woody Allen

Allen's parents were Nettie (née Cherry; 1906–2002), a bookkeeper at her family's delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg (1900–2001), a jewelry engraver and waiter.

His grandparents were immigrants to the U.S. from Austria and the Lithuanian city of Panevėžys.

They spoke German, Hebrew and Yiddish.

He and his younger sister, film producer Letty, were raised in Brooklyn's Midwood neighborhood.

Both their parents were born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Allen's parents did not get along, and he had an estranged relationship with his authoritarian, ill-tempered mother.

He spoke German in his early years.

He later joked that he was often sent to interfaith summer camps when he was young.

Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades.

Allen has received many accolades, including the most nominations (16) for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

He has won four Academy Awards, ten BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Emmy Award and a Tony Award.

Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg in New York City on November 30, 1935.

Though his family lived in Brooklyn, the birth took place at Mount Eden Hospital in the Bronx.

He is Jewish.

Allen began his career writing material for television in the 1950s, alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon.

He also published several books of short stories and wrote humor pieces for The New Yorker.

While attending Hebrew school for eight years, he went to Public School 99 (now the Isaac Asimov School for Science and Literature) and Midwood High School, graduating in 1953.

Unlike his comic persona, he was more interested in baseball than school and his strong arm ensured he was picked first for teams.

He impressed students with his talent for cards and magic tricks.

Allen wrote jokes (or "gags") for agent David O. Alber to make money, and Alber sold them to newspaper columnists.

At age 17, he legally changed his name to Heywood Allen and later began to call himself Woody.

According to Allen, his first published joke read: "Woody Allen says he ate at a restaurant that had O.P.S. prices—over people's salaries."

He was soon earning more than both of his parents combined.

After high school, he attended New York University, studying communication and film in 1953, before dropping out after failing the course "Motion Picture Production".

In the early 1960s, he performed as a stand-up comedian in Greenwich Village, where he developed a monologue style (rather than traditional jokes) and the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish.

During this time, he released three comedy albums, earning a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nomination for the self-titled Woody Allen (1964).

After writing, directing, and starring in a string of slapstick comedies, such as Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), Sleeper (1973), and Love and Death (1975), he directed his most successful film, Annie Hall (1977), a romantic comedy featuring Allen and his frequent collaborator Diane Keaton.

The film won four Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress for Keaton.

His films include Interiors (1978), Stardust Memories (1980), Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Radio Days (1987), Husbands and Wives (1992), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Deconstructing Harry (1997), Match Point (2005), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011), and Blue Jasmine (2013).

Allen has directed many films set in New York City, including Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).

Allen continued to garner acclaim, making a film almost every year, and is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of auteur filmmakers whose work has been influenced by European art cinema.

In 1979, Allen began a professional and personal relationship with actress Mia Farrow.

Over a decade-long period, they collaborated on 13 films.

The couple separated after Allen began a relationship in 1991 with Mia's and Andre Previn's adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn.

In 1992, Farrow publicly accused Allen of sexually abusing their adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.

The allegation gained substantial media attention, but Allen was never charged or prosecuted, and vehemently denied the allegation.

Allen was awarded an Honorary Golden Lion in 1995, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1997, an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2002, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2014.

Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Allen married Previn in 1997.

They have adopted two daughters.