Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright and musician whose career spans forover fifty years. He has won the Academy Award three times, and many others in his very long career. His many works and his cerebral movie style, mixing satire and humor, have made him one of the most respected movie directors in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in most of them. To inspire himself for his movies, Allen uses literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and New York City, where he was born and has lived all life.