He often stars in his films, typically in the persona he developed as a standup. Allen is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmakers, alongside Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, and Sidney Lumet. By the mid-1960s, Allen was writing and directing films, first specializing in comedies such as '' Take the Money and Run'' (1969), '' Bananas'' (1971), '' Sleeper'' (1973), and '' Love and Death'' (1975), before moving into dramatic material influenced by European art cinema specifically Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini with his works in the late 1970s with '' Interiors'' (1978), '' Manhattan'' (1979), and '' Stardust Memories'' (1980). In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen fourth on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians, while a UK survey ranked Allen the third-greatest comedian.

There he developed a monologue style (rather than traditional jokes) and the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish.}} During this time he released three comedy albums, earning a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nomination for the self-titled '' Woody Allen'' (1964). In the early 1960s, he performed as a stand-up comedian in Greenwich Village alongside Lenny Bruce, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, and Joan Rivers. He also published several books of short stories and wrote humor pieces for '' The New Yorker''. Allen began his career writing material for television in the 1950s, mainly '' Your Show of Shows'' (1950–54), alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon. Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant'. Allen was awarded the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995, an Honorary Golden Lion in 1995, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1997, an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2002, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. He has won four Academy Awards, nine BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for a Emmy Award and a Tony Award. Allen has received many accolades, including the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with 16. Woody Allen Heywood ' Woody' Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg November 30, 1935)|name='birth date'|}} is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades.

The Floating Light Bulb by Woody Allen