Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, and playwright. Woody Allen is also a jazz clarinetist who performs regularly at small venues in Manhattan. He was raised in Brooklyn, NY, the son of Nettie, a bookkeeper at her family`s delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg, a jewelry engraver and waiter.

He began to call himself Woody Allen. He would later joke that when he was young he was often sent to inter-faith summer camps, where he was savagely beaten by children of all races and creeds.

After high school, Woody Allen attended New York University, where he studied communication and film. He later briefly attended City College of New York and soon flunked out. Later, he learned via self-study rather than the classroom. Woody Allen eventually taught at The New School. He also studied with writing teacher Lajos Egri.