In nearly a half century of writing and directing movies, Woody Allen has conjured some of cinema's most vivid female characters. With nominations this year for Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine, the Academy has recognized 18 performances in Allen films — and all but five are by women. Allen hasn't directed the most actress nominees — William Wyler has him beat — but unlike Wyler, Allen wrote all of his characters into existence. What's more impressive is just how varied his female roles are.
Woody's women are singular creations, from comedic figures like Bullets Over Broadway's grandiose Helen Sinclair (for which Dianne Wiest won an Oscar) to the high-pitched harlot in Mighty Aphrodite (for which Mira Sorvino also won), from Diane Keaton's bespoke, brainy beauty in Best Picture winner Annie Hall to Penélope Cruz's hot-tempered painter in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Whatever you may think of how he has treated the women in his real life, you can't deny that he has treated the women in his movies like queens. ''My concept of Manhattan is one that I gleaned from Hollywood movies,'' he once said. ''And it's the same with the women in my films: I see them all through rose-colored glasses.'' Here's a look back at his most memorable, and Oscar-honored, female roles.
DIANE KEATON Annie Hall, 1977
DATE WITH OSCAR: Won for Best Actress.
THE ROLE: The love affair between Keaton's necktie-wearing Annie Hall and Woody's Alvy Singer is one of differences: West Coast vs. East Coast, overfeeling vs. overthinking, Wonder Bread vs. rye. Keaton was Allen's first muse and Annie one of his best creations: a semi-articulate goofball who still comes across as a complex woman and not just a bundle of quirks.
IN A LINE: ''La-di-da, la-di-da, la la.''
