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WOODY ALLEN<br />
WOODY ALLEN - Date of Birth: December 1, 1935<br />
Born as Allen Stewart Konigsberg in Brooklyn, New York, this multi-talented actor, director, writer, and musician began<br />
his career as a comedian and playwright. He was a television gag writer before writing and starring in his first feature<br />
film, What's New, Pussycat Take the Money and Run marked Allen's directorial debut in a hilarious parody of crime films<br />
and documentaries.<br />
Allen's films are characterized by their neurotic, urban-Jewish shtick and can be dated by the female lead—who is<br />
generally his current lover of choice. Past femmes include Louise Lasser, Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow.<br />
Reclusive and anti-Hollywood, Allen's critical moment in the spotlight was not for his work as a filmmaker, but for his<br />
affair with Farrow's (college-age) adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. In 1992, Allen filed for custody of their three<br />
children and later made shocking headlines when Farrow accused him of molesting their adopted daughter Dylan. While<br />
experts found no evidence to substantiate these allegations, Allen's reputation had already been trashed in the tabloids.<br />
After a lengthy and very public court battle, Allen lost custody of the three children. He married Soon-Yi in December<br />
1997 and the two now have two children together.<br />
"If you're an entertainer," Allen says, "your private life is public, that's what happens. Over the years, I've got used to that.<br />
Sometimes they write wonderful things, sometimes they write what a fool you are. That's part of what it is to be in the<br />
public eye."<br />
Eighty percent of success is showing up.<br />
Over the years, Allen has won an astounding number of awards, including three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes.<br />
His most recent Golden Globe was for his Midnight in Paris screenplay. He's also received two Academy Award nominations<br />
for <strong>Best</strong> Original Screenplay and <strong>Best</strong> Director for his work on the film. Allen followed up Midnight in Paris with To Rome<br />
With Love (2012), which follows the intersecting stories of both foreigners and Italians in Rome.<br />
Page 193<br />
I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.<br />
Abhi Sharma
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