“Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering— and it’s all over much too soon.” —WOODY ALLEN “My mother always said I was a very cheerful kid until I was five years old, and then I turned gloomy.” —WOODY ALLEN Woody Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg in Brooklyn, New York on December 1, 1935. “With his carroty hair, big ears, and milky skin, he looked just like his mother,” wrote biographer Marion Meade. Allen’s father worked as a cab driver, jewelry engraver, and a waiter, among other things. His mother was a bookkeeper for a Manhattan florist. His sister, Letty, was born when Woody was eight. His parents hoped he would become a pharmacist.