The directors No 11: Woody Allen

US director Woody Allen was born in 1935 Allen Stuart Konigsberg, in New York, where he has lived for the whole of his life. He began his career as a stand-up comedian and was rather good at it. In fact, during the 1960s he made many appearances on the prestigious Ed Sullivan Sunday night TV variety show.

His first sortie into movies was made in 1965, when he wrote the screenplay for the Peter Sellers comedy What's New Pussycat? One year later Mr Allen directed his first feature film What's Up Tiger Lily? - in which he also appeared.

There followed a quick succession of comedies that relied heavily on sight gags and rapid one-liners. His directorial career took a more sophisticated turn in 1977 with the release of, what many people still see as his best feature, Annie Hall. This movie picked up no fewer than four Academy Awards including best picture and best actress for Diane Keaton in the title role. Annie Hall ranks No 35 in the list of all-time best American movies and No 4 in the list of best comedies. It is a classic of its genre.

Other successes followed including Hannah and her Sisters, The Purple Rose of Cairo and the monochrome Manhattan, shot as a homage to his home city.

Strangely, for so talented a director, very few of Mr Allen's movies have made a profit and he remains an acquired taste for many filmgoers.

He has had a complex private life and has been married three times, apart from having a long time relationship with Mia Farrow. In fact the media had a field day in 1992 when it was revealed that the decidedly middle-aged Mr Allen was in a relationship with Mia Farrow's adopted daughter, whom he later married.

He is also a very talented jazz clarinetist and still plays regularly in bands and combos in New York clubs.