Woody Allen

Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and comedian. In a career spanning eight decades, he has written for film, television, and theater. Allen has received numerous accolades, including the most wins and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (3 and 16 respectively). In addition to his four Academy Awards, he has won ten BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award, and received nominations for an Emmy Award and a Tony Award. Allen has also received numerous honors, including an Honorary Golden Lion in 1995, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1997, an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2002, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2014. Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Allen began his career as part of a team of comedy writers for several Sid Caesar specials, and later wrote numerous humor pieces for The New Yorker as well as several Broadway plays, such as Don't Drink the Water (1966) and Play It Again, Sam (1969). He transitioned to working as a stand-up comedian in Greenwich Village, where he developed a monologue style and the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish. He released three comedy albums, earning a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nomination for Woody Allen (1964). Allen also published several books of short stories, such as Getting Even (1971), Without Feathers (1975), and Side Effects (1980).