Woody Allen

Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.

Allen broke into show business at 15 years 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: Que é que Há, Gatinha? (1965) and would also have a moderate role as a character in the film. During production, Woody gave himself more and better lines and left Beatty with less compelling dialogue. Beatty inevitably quit the project and was replaced by Peter Sellers, who demanded all the best lines and more screen-time.

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It was from this experience that Woody realized that he could not work on a film without complete control over its production. Woody's theoretical directorial debut was in O que Há, Tigresa? (1966); 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 Um Assaltante Bem Trapalhão (1969). 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.

While best known for his romantic comedies Noivo Neurótico, Noiva Nervosa (1977) and Manhattan (1979), Woody has made many transitions in his films throughout the years, transitioning from his "early, funny ones" of Bananas (1971), A Última Noite de Bóris Grushenko (1975) and Tudo o que Você Sempre quis Saber Sobre Sexo, mas Tinha Medo de Perguntar (1972); to his more storied and romantic comedies of Noivo Neurótico, Noiva Nervosa (1977), Manhattan (1979) and Hannah e suas Irmãs (1986); to the Bergmanesque films of Memórias (1980) and Interiores (1978); and then on to the more recent, but varied works of Crimes e Pecados (1989), Maridos e Esposas (1992), Poderosa Afrodite (1995), Celebridades (1998) and Desconstruindo Harry (1997); and finally to his films of the last decade, which vary from the light comedy of Scoop: O Grande Furo (2006), to the self-destructive darkness of Ponto Final: Match Point (2005) and, most recently, to the cinematically beautiful tale of Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). 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.

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