The name of the American director, producer, actor-comedian and four-time Oscar winner Woody Allen has long been included in the history of world cinema. Narrower circles of aesthetes know this talented creative personality as a jazz clarinetist and writer.
Film critics consider Woody Allen to be the creator of the new genre of “intelligent comedy.” He is one of the most prolific directors in the world, producing several films a year. In many of his films, the master declares his love for New York, where the main part of the life of this talented person passed. Woody Allen's last wife is his adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, who is 35 years younger than her husband.
Childhood
Allen Stewart Konigsberg spent his childhood in Midwood, Brooklyn. All his ancestors were Jews. They previously lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Lithuania. Woody Allen's family consisted of his father Martin, who worked as a waiter and jeweler-engraver, his accountant mother Nettie, who served the family candy store, and his younger sister Letty, who later became a producer of the films of her close relative.
In the Allen family, the main language of communication was Yiddish. Until the age of 8, the boy studied at a Jewish school, and then at Midwood High School. His classmates called him "Red".
At a multi-faith summer camp, I was severely beaten by children of all religions and races.
Doctors upset the child's parents with a disappointing diagnosis. They believed that the boy had autism. This can explain the presence of various phobias and oddities.
Woody Allen in his youth
In films, Woody usually played weak and unsociable people. In fact, Allen was considered a promising basketball and baseball player during his time in school. He had many friends whom he loved to entertain with various tricks. To earn money, the guy started writing jokes for local newspapers, and signed them with his pseudonym. That's how he became Woody Allen.
First wife Harleen
Girls mostly paid attention to the young Jewish guy when he started joking. Humor has always helped Woody Allen in his personal life.
Woody Allen
He started his first serious relationship with Harleen Rosen. The musician met his future wife during a jazz concert, where the girl played the piano and Woody took the stage with a saxophone. Allen's mother was delighted to learn that her son was dating a pretty sixteen-year-old Jewish girl. But, in fact, at that time Rosen was still just a child.
Harleen won't grow up. While I'm in the bath, she sinks my boats.
Woody Allen created his first family in 1956 in Los Angeles. Then he and his wife settled in New York. There, the comedian wrote jokes for various shows, and his wife studied philosophy.
Harleen Rosen and Woody Allen
The young people divorced in 1961 after the rape of Allen's wife in one of the entrances. Instead of supporting his wife, her husband publicly criticized her.
Knowing Harleen a little, I can say that she didn’t put up much of a fight.
The divorce ended in yet another lawsuit. Woody's ex-wife did not like his statements and she demanded compensation for moral damages in the amount of one million dollars from the ex-husband.
Marriage to actress Louise Lasserre
The next time Allen married an actress of Jewish origin, Louise Lasser, who in appearance resembled Brigitte Bardot.
Woody Allen and Louise Lasserre
But this beauty had a mental disorder associated with the suicide of her mother, which Woody learned about after the wedding.
When we met, I was married. But I fell in love so much that I realized that this was going to happen anyway.
They registered their marriage in 1966, and three years later they divorced.
Relationship with Diane Keaton
Actress Diane Keaton appeared in the director's life in 1970, when he staged the play Play It Again, Sam. Although their romance was short, she greatly influenced the creative development of the director. Subsequently, Woody and Diane became friends and collaborated a lot. The actress starred with the director in “A Murder Mystery in Manhattan,” “Radio Days,” “Interiors,” “Love and Death” and “Sleeper.”
Diane Keaton and Woody Allen
Diane inspired her former lover to create the film Annie Hall. According to Allen, this is a “turning point” in his career, after which the director developed his own unique authorial style. The title of this ironic comedy is the real name of the actress. And she owes her pseudonym to the famous comedian.
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton
Allen's new film was admired by critics. It was a hit with audiences and received numerous awards. While filming Annie Hall, the 42-year-old director fell in love with 17-year-old actress Stacey Nelkin.
Diane Keaton
After his second marriage, director Allen had a short-lived romantic relationship with Diane Keaton. My acquaintance with this girl began with the fact that she played one of the roles in Allen’s play “Play It Again, Sam.”
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in the movie Annie Hall
The romantic relationship quickly ended, but friendship and creative ties remained between Allen and Keaton for a long time. Keaton starred in Allen's films for a long time. Allen's last film starring Keaton was 1993's Manhattan Murder Mystery.
The relationship with Keaton had a significant influence on Allen's writing style. In 1977, he created the film Annie Hall, which became a breakthrough in Woody's cinematic work. Annie Hall is the real name of Diane Keaton, who took her pseudonym in honor of one of the famous American comic actors. This film included many episodes from the life of Allen and Keaton together. Subsequently, the film received a record number of various awards.
Civil Union with Mia Farrow
In 1980, Woody met actress Mia Farrow, with whom he began an active creative collaboration. She can be seen in the leading roles of thirteen paintings by the master. She shone in The Purple Rose of Cairo, Zelig and Hannah and Her Sisters.
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow
At the time they met, Farrow lived with seven children—three of her own and four adopted. For this reason, the director did not want to move in with Mia for a very long time, although they were in a relationship all this time. Only after the adoption of the girl Dylan and the birth of his own son, Woody Allen Ronan, did he begin to spend more time with the children.
Mia Farrow and Woody Allen with children
Later they also adopted a boy, Moses. Mia and Woody never entered into an official marriage.
He thinks Frank Sinatra might be Ronan Farrow's father
During Woody Allen's relationship with Mia Farrow, they welcomed a son, Ronan Farrow (then known as Satchel), but following their split, both Allen and Mia expressed doubts about Allen being Ronan's biological father. "I think he's [my baby], but I wouldn't bet my life on it," Allen told Vulture in September 2021. “I paid him child support for his entire childhood, and I don’t think it’s fair if he’s not mine.”
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Scandalous breakup with Farrow
The couple separated in 1992. This was followed by a loud scandal and lawsuits. The actress broke off relations with the director after she learned that he was seducing her adopted daughter Soon-Yi, whom Mia adopted along with her ex-husband, famous musician Andre Previn, who leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
The actress accidentally discovered a photo of a girl who is depicted in the nude, and her stepfather was taking the photo.
It turned out that Soon-Yi had been in a relationship with Allen for several years. Then Mia decided to try the director for molesting a young child.
Woody Allen, Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi Previn
Woody Allen's adopted children were prohibited from meeting their father, and he saw his own son Ronan very rarely. The director restored relations with Moses many years later, when the guy quarreled with his mother. Mia even filed a lawsuit to have her adoption documents annulled, but she lost the lawsuit.
Later, the actress spread rumors that she gave birth to Ronan from her first husband, Frank Sinatra, who supposedly always loved her.
In 2011, Woody Allen's own son was included in the list of "The Most Successful People Under 30" compiled by Forbes magazine. The young man was a special adviser to the American Secretary of State for Youth Affairs. He became a Rhodes Scholar and went to Oxford.
The director described his personal life in detail in his author’s biography “Out of Place.” There he mentioned sectarianism in the family of his common-law wife.
The book talks about Farrow's abuse of children, whom she forced to confess to actions they had not committed. Twice Mia returned the kids to the orphanage, and once she hung her adopted daughter upside down. Farrow believed that after a rush of blood to her head, Soon-Yi would begin to think better.
“I calmed down when I got married.” Woody Allen talks about marriage to Soon-Yi Previn
22 years together, despite all the scandals
Woody Allen gave an interview to the Daily Mail, where he spoke about his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, who declared war on the director and former partner. Woody, 84, and Soon-yi, 49, have been married for 22 years.
“I admit that when our relationship first started, it all seemed pointless,” Allen says. “Our couple seemed reckless.” I was much older than her, and she was a foster child. From the outside it looked like I was a predatory older man who would use her, and she would use me in return. But this has never happened."
Earlier, Soon-yi, in an interview with New York magazine, said that their relationship began in 1991, when the girl was already a student: one evening Allen showed her Bergman's drama The Seventh Seal, after which they kissed for the first time. They didn't take it as something serious. However, Sun-i subsequently wrote several love letters to Woody, and after 2 weeks of their relationship she invited him to marry her and said that she wanted a child from him.
In 1997, Allen and Previn married and adopted two children, Bechet (now 21) and Manzi (20).
“I've calmed down since I got married,” Allen says. “I’ve gotten rid of many neurotic habits, although I still avoid tunnels and don’t like small rooms and elevators.”
When asked how he and Soon-yi managed to live together for so many years and maintain a strong relationship, Woody replied that although they have disagreements in small things, when it comes to basic principles, they have complete mutual understanding.
“She doesn’t like jazz or sports, and I don’t like some of the TV shows she watches, but when it comes to the really important things: how to raise children, where to live and how to communicate, we agree.”
Woody also admitted that being a father is very important to him. Their daughters are now in college, one in California and the other in New York.
“Soon-yi changed me. She makes me go out 4 or 5 times a week,” Woody says.
As for the sexual assault allegations that practically destroyed Allen's career (although the court did not find him guilty), the director is not worried about these gossips. “I live my life. Working. I play jazz. I watch sports broadcasts. I see my friends. "The allegations were false, but they made for great tabloid drama."
We wrote more about what Woody Allen is accused of here.
See also: Woody Allen's memoirs have finally been released. But now in a different publishing house.
Woody Allen
SOON-I PREVIN
Woody Allen's marriage to his adopted daughter
The affair with Woody Allen's last wife began when she was twenty years old, and the director was over fifty. According to the classic of world cinema, he fell in love with the girl and she passionately reciprocated his feelings. Seven years later, Woody Allen married his adopted daughter. For a modest ceremony, which took place at the end of 1997, they went to Venice.
Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn
The wedding was romantic. The director, like James Bond, left the hotel, got into a gondola and sailed through the canals to the building where the wedding ceremony was personally held by the mayor of Venice. Only Allen's sister and close friend were present. During their honeymoon, the newlyweds stayed at the Ritz Hotel in Paris.
The couple had two adopted children - girls Menzi and Beshe. Mia Farrow and the public condemned the director for the fact that Woody Allen married his adopted daughter, but he himself never regretted it.
I adore Soon-Yi and I know I might die soon. If this happens, I want her to be legally protected and get everything I have without any problems.
In 2015, Woody Allen's last wife and her husband came to Russia for the opening of Garage. This is the name of a museum that displays contemporary art. The director and his wife were invited by its founder Daria Zhukova. In the Russian capital, the couple lived at the Four Seasons Hotel. They visited Manezhnaya Square and the restaurant “Dr. Zhivago."
Woody Allen spoke about his relationship with his adopted daughter, who became his wife
Woody Allen usually refuses to talk about his personal life, but in a new interview he did answer several questions related to his wife Soon-Yi Previn.
Let us remember that the director and his wife are one of the most controversial couples in Hollywood, because Previn is not only 35 years younger than her husband, but was also the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, Allen’s former common-law wife. The director's affair with his stepdaughter was the reason for his breakup with Farrow. After Mia accused him of molesting minors, her other daughter, Dylan, last year alleged harassment by Woody.
In an interview with NPR, the director answered the question of whether, in his opinion, the story with Dylan Farrow influenced the attitude of his fans towards him.
I would say no. My films have always had a small audience, and it has existed for years. If the reviews are bad, they won’t go see my film; if they are good, they most likely will.
Woody Allen
The director, who will turn 80 this year, was asked whether he believes that eternal love does not exist and that any relationship fades over time.
Yes, almost always. You may get lucky and find a relationship that will last a long time. Maybe even a lifetime. But they also fade over the years.
Relationships are the most difficult thing people have to face. We struggle with loneliness, it is difficult for us to meet people and maintain relationships. And we always hear: “You need to work on relationships.” But if you really like something, you don't have to work at it. I love music, but I don't force myself to work at it. Some people like to go boating on the weekends, but they don’t say to themselves, “Oh, I need to work on it.”
It's the same with relationships. If you feel like you have to constantly work on them, then something is wrong.
Despite his belief that love fades over time, Woody admits that he is now quite happily married. About his wife Sun-yi he says:
I'm lucky. I have been happily married for 20 years. Perhaps the abnormality factor is that I am much older than the girl I married. I am 35 years older, and it just so happened that I had paternal feelings for her. She answered them. I liked her youth and energy. But I didn’t rush her, she had time to think and make a decision.
Soon-Yi Previn and Woody Allen
As the director says, he did not expect the novel to be so long:
At first I didn't think it was anything serious... But then we started traveling together, then we started living together, and we loved it. And the age difference didn't matter.
She was interested in learning something new from me, she studied and could already surpass me in some ways.
Allen has never hidden the fact that he is very introverted and has always had problems communicating. In the interview he also mentions this:
I never liked people. Some of them are wonderful, but there are too many that are not so wonderful.
When asked if he considers himself a good person, Allen replies:
I'm getting better over the years. I began to sympathize with people more, behave better, more decently. I didn't always succeed. At 20, even at 30, I didn’t think about others, I was too ambitious and selfish, not sensitive enough in my relationships with the women I dated. I wasn't cruel to them, I just lacked sensitivity. Over the years, I began to understand that they suffered just like me.
When Woody was asked in the same interview if he had ever experimented with drugs, the director answered in the negative:
I've never tried anything like it. No marijuana, no pills. And I wasn't even curious. People often ask me: “Weren’t you interested?” I'm not curious at all. I'm not interested in traveling, I only do it because my wife likes it. I'm not interested in new places, new things. In New York, I ate dinner at the same restaurant every night for 10 or 12 years.
A-list stars are always ready to star in Woody Allen's films. Here's what the director said about it:
They want to act with me because I give actors the opportunity to really show their acting, which is what they want. But they agree to work with me if at that moment they do not have offers to play in blockbusters. If I offer them something and at the same time they get called to Jurassic Park, they will choose Jurassic Park because of the fee.
Now, we recall, Allen is promoting his latest film, “Irrational Man,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. The film will be released in Russian theaters on August 13.
Woody Allen with Emma Stone and Parker Posey
