Who is Woody Allen? I was curious so I did a little checking. Without my usual eloquent elaboration here are some basic facts I learned.

Woody Allen got married for the first time in 1954 to Harlene Rosen. He was 19 and she was 16. The marriage took place in California with the blessing of Harlene’s parents. Reportedly it was Allen’s parents who were more resistant to the joining.

The marriage lasted about five years. After the divorce, Allen referred to Harlene as “the dread Mrs. Allen” in his comedy act and she sued him for defamation regarding comments he made on TV.

Later, when Allen was in a relationship with Mia Farrow, who he never married, he was discovered (while they were still a couple) with nude photographs he had taken of Soon-Yi Previn, Farrow’s adopted daughter who was about 19 years old at the time.

Later, Allen described Farrow’s discovery of the photographs as “one of the great pieces of luck” in his life. Allen later denied this series of events was a “scandal.”

What was the scandal? I fell in love with this girl, married her. We have been married for almost 15 years now. There was no scandal, but people refer to it all the time as a scandal and I kind of like that in a way because when I go I would like to say I had one real juicy scandal in my life.

Source: Reuters

After the relationship with Farrow ended, Allen was free to pursue Soon-Yi Previn. Allen was 57 and Soon-Yi was reportedly about 19. They were married about five years later in 1997 and remain married to this day. There is a 35-year difference in ages.

When asked about the age difference, Allen famously shrugged it off, saying, “The heart wants what the heart wants.”