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Woody Allen was actually born on November 30, 1935, although very close to midnight. On the Internet, in numerous reference works and also in the public eye, December 1st always appeared as his birthday.
Why? Because his parents changed his birth date to December 1st. Apparently out of the pragmatic desire to let the child start life on the first day of the month.
Allen himself wrote laconically about this in his autobiography: “My parents pushed back the date so that I could start on the first day. That brought me zero advantages in life.”
Woody Allen and the cinema
This certainly seems absurd measure may have already shaped the life of this cheerful, melancholic artist, who had an astonishing cinema career and made ridiculousness and irrationality the driving force of his neurotic humor.
In the past, Woody Allen has hinted at giving up his decades-long career and retiring. He began his career in the 1950s as a gag and screenwriter before becoming known in the 1960s, first as a stand-up comedian and then as a filmmaker.
With films like “The Urban Neurotic,” “Manhattan,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” he shaped intellectual, modern American auteur comedy. Later he also devoted himself intensively to European conditions, without ever giving up his penchant for literary dialogues, jazz and a comedic, existential thoughtfulness.
In recent years, the allegations of abuse that have accompanied him since the 1990s have been discussed again. A multi-part documentary weighed heavily on him. Allen scored an Oscar triumph in 2013 with “Blue Jasmin”. Many critics also described his last film to date, “A stroke of luck” (2023), as…a stroke of luck.