Woody Allen about meaning and truth of life on Earth

I have spent alot of time talking about Woody Allen films on this blog and looking at his worldview. He has a hopeless, meaningless, nihilistic worldview that believes we are going to turn to dust and there is no afterlife. Even though he has this view he has taken the opportunity to look at the weaknesses of his own secular view. I salute him for doing that. That is why I have returned to his work over and over and presented my own Christian worldview as an alternative.

My interest in Woody Allen is so great that I have a “Woody Wednesday” on my blog www.thedailyhatch.org every week. Also I have done over 30 posts on the historical characters mentioned in his film “Midnight in Paris.” (Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway,T.S.Elliot,  Cole Porter,Paul Gauguin,  Luis Bunuel, and Pablo Picasso were just a few of the characters.) Check out these trivia facts below.

Here is some trivia about Woody Allen:

Birth Name

Allan Stewart Konigsberg

Height

5′ 5″ (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Woody Allen was born on December 1, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 15, he started selling one-liners to gossip columns. After working a while as a stand up comedian, he was hired to write What’s New Pussycat (1965) in 1965. He directed his first film a year later, What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) in 1966.

IMDb Mini Biography By: David McCollum

Mini Biography

Woody Allen was born December 1, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York. As a young boy he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.

He broke into show business at age 15 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: “What’s New Pussycat?” and would also have a moderate role as a character in the film. As production was ongoing for the film, 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 screen time. 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 “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?”; 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 “Take the Money and Run.” 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 Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979), Woody has made many transitions in his films throughout the years, transitioning from his “early, funny ones” of “Bananas,” “Love and Death” and “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask;” to his more storied and romantic comedies of “Annie Hall,” “Manhattan” and “Hannah and Her Sisters;” to the Bergman-esque films of “Stardust Memories” and “Interiors;” and then on to the more recent, but varied works of “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “Husbands and Wives,” “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Celebrity” and “Deconstructing Harry;” and finally to his film of the last decade, which vary from the light comedy of “Scoop,” to the self-destructive darkness of “Match Point” and, most recently, to the cinematically beautiful tale of “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

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.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Michael Castrignano

Spouse

Soon-Yi Previn	(22 December 1997 – present) 2 children
Louise Lasser	(2 February 1966 – January 1970) (divorced)
Harlene Susan Rosen	(15 March 1956 – November 1962) (divorced)

Trade Mark

Frequently plays a neurotic New Yorker

Frequently casts himself, Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow

Frequently casts Judy Davis. and Scarlett Johansson,

A lot of his movies feature at least one character who is a writer. This is often Woody himself.

Nearly all of his films start and end with white-on-black credits, set in the Windsor typeface, set to jazz music, without any scrolling.

Films his dialog using long, medium-range shots instead of the typical intercut close-ups

His films are almost all set in New York City

His characters (that he plays himself) are often a semi-famous, semi-successful film/tv writer, director, or producer… or a novelist

His thick black glasses, the same type since the 1960s

From Stardust Memories (1980) through Melinda and Melinda (2004), frequently and almost exclusively employs Dick Hyman to contribute musical arrangements, incidental music, and piano accompaniment.

From Sleeper (1973) until Cassandra’s Dream (2008), almost never has his movies scored, preferring to use selections from his vast personal record collection.

Billing his actors alphabetically on opening credits

His films often include opening Narration or the protagonist talking directly to the audience

His female characters are often free spirited but naive and often come from small town backgrounds

References to famous writers and literary classics

References to classic Films, particularly the works of Ingmar Bergman

Brooklyn Accent

Stumbling and nervous delivery

Often bases films on his own life experiences

His unchanging nebbish persona

Short stature

Reddish hair

Trivia

His adopted daughter Bechet Dumaine, named after Sidney Bechet, was born in December 1998.

Ranked #43 in Empire (UK) magazine’s Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list (October 1997).

Speaks French.

Refuses to watch any of his movies once released.

He and former lover Mia Farrow had three children: Moses Farrow (adopted son, aka Misha), Dylan O’Sullivan Farrow (adopted daughter, aka Mallone), and Satchel Farrow (biological son, b. 1988, aka Ronan).

Related posts:

I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I have done over 30 posts on the historical characters mentioned in the film. Take a look below: