Woody Allen : a travesty of a mockery of a sham / Patrick McGilligan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGilligan, Patrick, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Allen, Woody, 1935-.

Allen, Woody.

Motion picture producers and directors--United States--Biography.

Motion picture producers and directors.

Comedians--United States--Biography.

Comedians.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 826 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Travesty of a mockery of a sham

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2025]

Summary:

"Across nearly nine eventful decades, Allen's life has been full of surprises. Writing jokes got him a gig as the youngest writer of Sid Caesar's television dream team. As a rising comic, he boxed a kangaroo on TV. He made a blank-check deal with a major studio for terms unmatched in Hollywood apart from early titans like Chaplin and Welles. All before Annie Hall. Yet despite once being one of the most consequenƯtial American cultural figures, Allen is now persona non grata. In this judicious biography, acclaimed biographer Patrick McGilligan charts the meteoric rise and fall of the comedian whose nonconformity proved both his secret genius and Achilles' heel. Drawing on meticulous research, McGilliƯgan reconstructs Allen's Brooklyn boyhood, his salad days as a television comedy writer, his rise to stand-up, and the thoughtful, award-winning filmƯmaking of his golden years in the 1970s and '80s. His messy relationships with wives and girlƯfriends, including Annie Hall costar Diane Keaton, were essential to his artistic development and undoƯing. Yet no one could have predicted his tumultuous personal and professional relationship with actress Mia Farrow, his alleged abuse of their adopted daughter Dylan, and his subsequent marriage to Mia's daughter Soon-Yi Previn. In this comprehensive, sweeping, and rigorƯous account of Allen's life and career, McGilligan astutely reveals the writer's writer beyond the smoke and controversy, and paints a compelling portrait of the most creative, productive, and influential filmƯmaker of his time"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Fanfare: 2025: Death defying act

I. Easy writer. 1935: Prep day

1955: The Woodman cometh

1961: The big noise

II. Mr. Everything. 1965: The first golden age

1970: Clockwork

1977: Mr. Secretive

III. Scenes from a non-marriage. 1980: The second golden age

1985: Sleepwalking into a mess

1992: The great unpleasantness

IV. The great rectification campaign. 1993: The tears of a clown

1999: The Soon-Yi era

2012: Stuff happens

V. A travesty of a mockery of a sham. 2016: Mr. Nothing.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 737-775), filmography (pages 777-800), and index.

ISBN:

9780062941336

006294133X

OCLC:

1463489609