• Woody Allen is an Academy Award-winning film director, writer, actor and comedian. Born in Brooklyn and raised Jewish, his films focus on cultural identity, relationships and love. His latest film is Whatever Works (2009).

• 1. Birth name: Allen Stewart Konigsberg
  2. Born: December 1, 1935
  3. Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
  4. Jewish
  5. Has won 3 Academy Awards; nominated for 21
  6. Married to Soon-Yi Previn, adopted daughter of Allen's former longtime girlfriend, Mia Farrow
  7. Height: 5'5"
  8. Nearly all of his films credit sequence use the same Windsor font
  9. Expelled from New York University
  10. Fluent in French
  11. Holds the Academy Award record for most nominations for writing an original screenplay with 14
  12. Jazz clarinetist
  13. First music production: What's New, Pussycat?
  14. Was married to Harlene Rosen and Louise Lasser

• Comedies

  Allen became a household name and expanded his audience through screwball comedies in the early 1970s. Bananas, Sleeper and Love and Death earned considerable acclaim and established Allen as a director. It was 1977's Annie Hall, however, that showed Allen as a serious filmmaker who could make comedies that had strong characters and solid story lines. The film won four Oscars, including Best Picture.

• Dramas

  Though Allen is most famous for his comedies, his dramatic films about families and relationships have earned significant critical praise and attention. Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters and Husbands and Wives are considered among his best films. After releasing a string of unsuccessful comedies in the early 21st century, he released the thriller Match Point in 2005 to mass acclaim, some critics considering it among his best films.

• Personal Life

  Allen's personal relationships are often as eccentric as the ones in his films. He was married twice in the late 1950s and 1960s and later had long-term relationships with both Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow. In 1992, his relationship with Farrow ended after she discovered Allen had taken nude photographs of Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow's adopted daughter. Allen married Previn in 1997.

  Allen settled a lawsuit on May 18, 2009, with American Apparel after the company allegedly used his image on a billboard depicting him as a rabbi. The suit was settled for $5 million.TMZ: Jew Owe Me Five Mil (May 18, 2009)

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