Name	Allentown
Settlement type	Home Rule Municipality
Official name	City of Allentown
Nickname	"The Queen City", "A-Town", "Band City USA", "Peanut City", "Silk City".
Motto	"Sic Semper Tyrannis"
Image seal	Allentown-seal.jpg
Map caption	Location in Lehigh County
Pushpin map	Pennsylvania
Pushpin map caption	Location in Pennsylvania
Pushpin label position	left
Coordinates region	US-PA
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	Commonwealth
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision name1	Pennsylvania
Subdivision name2	Lehigh
Government type	Mayor-Council
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Ed Pawlowski (D)
Leader title1	City Attorney
Leader name1	Jerry Snyder
Leader title2	City Controller
Leader name2	William J. Hoffman
Leader title3	City Council
Leader name3
Leader title4	Senate
Leader name4	Pat Browne (R)
Leader title5	State Representative
Leader name5	Jennifer Mann (D)
Leader title6	U.S. Congress
Leader name6	Charlie Dent (R)
Government type	Mayor-Council
Established title	Settled
Established date	1751
Established title2	Founded
Established date2	1762
Established title3	Incorporated
Established date3	March 12, 1867
Founder	William Allen
Named for	William Allen
Unit pref	Imperial
Area total sq mi	18.0
Area total km2	46.5
Area land sq mi	17.8
Area land km2	45.9
Area water sq mi	0.2
Area water km2	0.6
Area urban sq mi	289.50
Area urban km2	749.79
Area metro sq mi	730.0
Area metro km2	1174.82
Population as of	2010
Population total	118032 (215th)
Population density km2	2571.5
Population density sq mi	6631.0
Population metro	816012 (62nd)
Population density metro sq mi	1117.8
Population urban	576408
Population density urban sq mi	1991.0
Population blank2 title	Demonym
Population blank2	Allentonian
Timezone	EST
Utc offset	-5
Timezone dst	EDT
Utc offset dst	-4
Postal code type	ZIP codes
Postal code	18101, 18102, 18103, 18104, 18105, 18106, 18109, 18175, 18195
Area code	610, 484, 835
Coordinates display	inline,title
Coordinates type	region:US_type:city
Elevation m	103
Elevation ft	338
Elevation max ft	440
Elevation min ft	255
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	42-02000
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	1202899 ----
Blank2 name	Primary Airport
Blank2 info	Lehigh Valley International Airport- ABE (Major/International)
Blank3 name	Secondary Airport
Blank3 info	Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport- XLL (Minor)
Website	http://www.allentownpa.gov/
Area code	610 }}

Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently the fastest growing city in Pennsylvania. It is also the county seat of Lehigh County.

Located on the Lehigh River, Allentown is the largest of three adjacent cities that make up a region of eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey known as the Lehigh Valley, Allentown is north of Philadelphia, the fifth most populous city in the United States, east of Harrisburg, the state capital, and west of New York City, the nation's largest city.

Two four-year colleges, Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College, are located in Allentown. Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, a very popular amusement park, is located just outside of the city.

Commercial airline service to and from the city is available through Lehigh Valley International Airport (LVIA) . General aviation and charter service is offered by LVIA and Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport .

The city is connected to the Interstate Highway System by Interstate 78 and Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which provide access connections to the major urban areas of other Northeastern United States urban areas. Also U.S. Route 22, the Lehigh Valley Thruway, provides a limited access east-west highway connection to the Interstate Highway System to the northern parts of the city. Commuter train service between Allentown and Philadelphia ended in 1979 when state funding to operate the service ceased.

Allentown is a two-time winner of the All-America City Award, being recognized in 1962 and 1974–1975.

History

Founding

The area that is today the center of Allentown was laid out as Northampton Town in 1762 by William Allen, a wealthy shipping merchant, former mayor of the city of Philadelphia and then-Chief Justice of the Province of Pennsylvania. The property was part of a plot Allen purchased on September 10, 1735 from his business partner Joseph Turner, who was assigned the warrant to the land by Thomas Penn, son of William Penn, on May 18, 1732. The tract was originally surveyed on November 23, 1736. A subsequent survey done in 1753 by David Schultz for a road from Easton to Reading, of which present-day Union and Jackson streets were links, shows the location of log house owned by Allen, situated near the western bank of the Jordan Creek, which was believed to have been built around 1740. Used primarily as a hunting and fishing lodge, here Allen entertained prominent guests including his brother-in-law, James Hamilton, and colonial governor John Penn.

The original plan for the town, now in the archives of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, comprised forty-two city blocks and consisted of 756 lots, mostly in width and in depth. The town was located between present-day Fourth and Tenth Streets, and Union and Liberty Streets. Many streets on the original plan were named for Allen's children: Margaret (present-day Fifth Street), William (now Sixth), James (now Eighth), Ann (now Ninth) and John (now Walnut). Allen Street (now Seventh) was named for Allen himself, and was the main thoroughfare. Hamilton Street was named for James Hamilton. Gordon Street was named for Sir Patrick Gordon, Deputy Governor of Colonial Pennsylvania from 1726–1736. Chew Street was named for Benjamin Chew, and Turner Street was named for Allen's business partner, Joseph Turner. Allen hoped that Northampton Town would displace Easton as the seat of Northampton County and also become a commercial center due to its location along the Lehigh River and its proximity to Philadelphia. Allen gave the property to his son James in 1767. Three years later, in 1770, James built a summer residence, Trout Hall, in the new town, near the site of his father's former hunting lodge.

On March 18, 1811, the town was formally incorporated as the Borough of Northamptown. On March 6, 1812, Lehigh County was formed from the western half of Northampton County, and Northampton Town was selected as the county seat. The town was officially renamed "Allentown" on April 16, 1838, after years of popular usage. Allentown was formally incorporated as a city on March 12, 1867.

Liberty Bell and the American Revolutionary War

Allentown holds historical significance as the location where the Liberty Bell (then known as the Pennsylvania State House bell) was successfully hidden from the British during the American Revolutionary War. After George Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and that city prepared for British attack. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ordered that eleven bells, including the State House bell and the bells from Philadelphia's Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, be taken down and removed from the city to prevent the British, who would melt the bells down to cast into cannons, from taking possession of them. The bells were transported north to Northampton-Towne, and hidden in the basement of the Old Zion Reformed Church, in what is now center city Allentown. Today, a shrine and museum in the church's basement, known as the Liberty Bell Museum, marks the spot where the bell was hidden.

After the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, Hessian prisoners-of-war were kept in the vicinity of present-day Seventh and Gordon Streets. The Old Zion Reformed Church, and a house near James (now Eighth) and Hamilton Streets, served as hospitals for injured and sick Continental Army troops. In 1777, a factory manufacturing paper cartridges for muskets was relocated here from nearby Bethlehem. That same year, a shop of sixteen armorers was established along the Little Lehigh Creek, and employed in the repair of weapons and the manufacture of saddles and scabbards.

American Industrial Revolution

Prior to the 1830s, Allentown was a small town with only local markets. The arrival of the Lehigh Canal, however, expanded the city's commerce and industrial capacity greatly. With this, the town underwent significant industrialization, ultimately becoming a major center for heavy industry and manufacturing. While Allentown was not as large as neighboring Bethlehem at the time, the local iron industry — which included the Allentown Iron Company (established 1846) and the Allentown Rolling Mills (established 1860) — employed the majority of Allentown's workforce. Railroads, such as the Lehigh Valley Railroad, were vital to the movement of raw materials and finished goods, and employed a significant workforce during this time. This period of rapid economic growth in the region was halted by two events, the Panic of 1873 and the Long Depression.

In addition to the iron and railroad industries, Allentown also had a strong tradition in the brewing of beer and was home to several notable breweries, including the Horlacher Brewery (founded 1897, closed 1978), the Neuweiler Brewery (founded 1875, closed 1968) and Schaefer Beer, whose brewery was later owned by Pabst Brewing Company and Guinness but is now owned by the Boston Beer Company, maker of Samuel Adams.

Early 20th century to present

Economic recovery in the early 20th century was brought about by the silk and textile industry. The Adelaide Silk Mill, one of the largest in the world at the time, opened in Allentown in 1881. By 1928, there were more than 140 silk and textile mills in the Lehigh Valley, making it the second largest industry in the region. By the 1930s, the silk industry was in worldwide decline, as synthetics were taking the place of silk. Catoir Silk Mill, the last silk mill in Allentown, closed in 1989. In 1905, Mack Trucks moved to Allentown, beginning Allentown's focus on heavy industrial manufacturing. Today, Allentown's economy, like most of Pennsylvania's, is based in the service industries with some manufacturing. Deindustrialization has caused many of the factories and corporations headquartered in Allentown to close or move. For example, Mack Trucks is now located in Greensboro, North Carolina, LSI Corporation moved to California, and numerous factories have ceased operation. On the other hand, the Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) operates a business incubator, the Bridgeworks, which helps attract and support young commercial and manufacturing businesses.

Geography

Topography

Allentown is located at 40°36'6" North, 75°28'38" West (40.601697, −75.477328). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . is land and is water. Bodies of water include the Jordan Creek and its tributary, the Little Lehigh Creek, which join within the city limits and empty into the Lehigh River. Other bodies of water within the city limits include Lake Muhlenberg in Cedar Creek Parkway and a pond in Trexler Park.

The city sits within the Lehigh Valley, a geographic region bounded by Blue Mountain, a ridge of the Appalachian mountain range, which varies from 1,000 to in height about north of the city, and South Mountain, a ridge of 500 to in height that borders the southern edge of the city.

The city is the county seat of Lehigh County. The adjacent counties are Carbon County to the north; Northampton County to the northeast and east; Bucks County to the southeast; Montgomery County to the south; and Berks County and Schuylkill County to the west.

Surrounding municipalities

Further details (including smaller communities) can be found in the location box at the bottom of this article.

Climate

Allentown's climate is considered to fall in the humid continental climate zone. Summers are typically hot and muggy, fall and spring are generally mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost uniformly distributed throughout the year.

The average temperature in January is , and the lowest officially recorded temperature was in 1912. July averages , and the highest temperature on record was in 1966. Early fall and mid-winter are generally driest, with February being the driest month with only of average precipitation.

Snowfall is variable, with some winters bringing light snow and others bringing numerous significant snowstorms. Average snowfall is per year, with the months of January and February receiving the highest at just over 11 and 9 inches each. Rainfall is generally spread throughout the year, with eight to twelve wet days per month, at an average annual rate of .

Cityscape

Neighborhoods

Center City, which includes the downtown area and the 7th Street retail and residential corridor, is the city's central business district and the host to various city, county and federal government centers. To the east of Center City are "The Wards," the areas that developed as residential areas during the city's industrial boom of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Just east of the Lehigh River are the city's East Side residential neighborhoods, most of which border the various routes to nearby Bethlehem. South of Center City, and across the Little Lehigh Creek, are the city's South Side neighborhoods, which border Emmaus. Lastly, there is West End Allentown, which comprises most neighborhoods west of 15th Street.

Architecture

Allentown's Center City neighborhoods mainly consist of a variety of Victorian and Federal rowhomes. The stately homes around West Park are mostly Victorian and Craftsman. The houses on the city's tree-lined streets in the West End were mostly built in the 1920s and 40's. Houses in the City's East Side and South Side are a mixture of architectural styles and are generally single and twin family homes built from the 1940s through the 1960s with century old Victorians in the mix. Allentown also has loft apartments in converted mills and historic brick manufacturing buildings and modern and historic high-rise apartment buildings.

The PPL Building is Allentown's tallest building at . It is 23 stories high and is located at the northwest corner of 9th and Hamilton Street. A Lehigh Valley icon, this Art Deco tower can be seen from places throughout the Lehigh Valley; in clear weather, the tower can be seen as far north as the ski resort pass over Blue Mountain. One of the city's older still-standing structures, Allentown Symphony Hall, at 23 North Sixth Street in Center City, was constructed in 1896.

The City of Allentown is characterized by a large stock of historic homes, commercial structures and century-old industrial buildings.

There are three historic districts in Allentown, Old Allentown, the Old Fairgrounds and West Park neighborhoods. Old Allentown and Old Fairgrounds are Center City neighborhoods that hold a joint house tour organized by Old Allentown Preservation Association (OAPA) once a year in September. The West Park neighborhood also offers a tour of this district's larger Victorian and Craftsman-style homes.

Culture

Arts and entertainment

The Allentown Symphony Orchestra performs at Allentown Symphony Hall, located on North Sixth Street in center city. The city also has a musical heritage of civilian concert bands, and is home to the Allentown Band, the oldest civilian concert band in the United States. The Allentown Band, Marine Band of Allentown, Municipal Band of Allentown and the Pioneer Band of Allentown all regularly perform at the bandshell in the city's West Park.

The city houses a collection of public sculptures, including the DaVinci Horse, located on 5th Street. This sculpture is one of three in the world.

The Allentown Art Museum, located on North Fifth Street in Center City, is home to a collection of more than 13,000 pieces of art, along with an associated library. The Baum School of Art, located in downtown Allentown at 5th and Linden Streets, offers credit and non-credit classes in painting, drawing, ceramics, fashion design, jewelry making and more.

Civic Theatre of Allentown has an 80-plus year history of producing theatre in the Lehigh Valley. Started by two ''Morning Call'' reporters in 1927 as “Civic Little Theatre,” the current day Civic Theatre of Allentown relies on a paid professional staff, volunteer board of directors from the community, and volunteers from the region. Civic Theatre stands on three pillars: theatre, film and education. Civic is a professionally directed, managed and run theatre that utilizes community actors in its live theatre productions. Civic also operates the Lehigh Valley’s only full-time cinema exclusively showing art, independent and foreign films and a theatre school that has been served the Valley’s youth for more than 50 years.

Cuisine

Vestiges of Allentown's Pennsylvania German heritage remain present in its cuisine, and foodstuffs such as scrapple, chow-chow, Lebanon bologna, cole slaw and apple butter are often found offered in local diners and the Allentown Farmer's Market. Shoofly pie, birch beer, and funnel cakes are regularly found at local fairs. Several local churches make and sell fastnachts as a fundraiser for Fastnacht Day, the day before the start of Lent.

As the population of the city has increased, many national restaurant and fast food chains have established a presence in the city. More recently, growth of the city's ethnic populations has led to the opening of many family run restaurants specializing in ethnic cuisine. Ethnic food types represented include Chinese, Colombian, Dominican, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Lebanese, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Thai and West Indian.

Due in part to Allentown's proximity to Philadelphia, cheesesteaks are also popular. Yocco's Hot Dogs, a regionally well-known hot dog and cheesesteak establishment with six area locations, was founded in 1922 by Theodore Iacocca, uncle of Lee Iacocca. In addition, A-Treat, a regionally-popular brand of carbonated soft drinks, has been manufactured in Allentown since 1918.

Museums

Allentown Art Museum, art

America On Wheels, automotive transportation

Da Vinci Science Center, science

Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, local history

Liberty Bell Museum, history

Mack Trucks Historical Museum, automotive transportation

Museum of Indian Culture, Native American

Theme parks

Allentown is home to the area's premier amusement park, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom.

Sports

Club	League	Sport	Venue	Established	Championships
Lehigh Valley IronPigs		Baseball		2008	0
Northampton Laurels FC		Soccer	J. Birney Crum Stadium	2005	0
Pennsylvania Stoners		Soccer		1979	2 (1980, 2008)
Philadelphia Force		Softball		2006	0

Baseball

Allentown has a history in the sport of professional baseball that dates back to 1884. In 2008, Allentown unveiled Coca-Cola Park, a $50.25 million, 8,100-seat stadium. The stadium was constructed in east-side Allentown to serve as the home field for the Philadelphia Phillies' AAA-level Minor League baseball team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The IronPigs, a member of the International League, are the first Major League-affiliated club to play in the city since 1960.

Basketball

Allentown hosted the Allentown Jets, an Eastern Professional Basketball League team, from 1958 to 1981. The Jets were one of the most dominant franchises in the league's history, winning eight playoff championships and twelve division titles. The team’s home games were played in Rockne Hall at Allentown Central Catholic High School.

Gymnastics

Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, which has been the training ground for numerous Olympians and U.S. national gymnastics champions, is based in Allentown. In 2003, CNN aired a documentary on Parkettes, ''Achieving the Perfect 10'', which depicted it as a hugely demanding and competitive training program.

Soccer

Allentown is also home to the Stoners, a professional soccer team. From 1979–1983, the Stoners were members of the American Soccer League. The team had a five-year league record of 76–49–25, and won the league championship in 1980. Due to increasing competition from other soccer leagues, and decreasing attendance, the team folded in 1983. The team was resurrected in 2007 as the Pennsylvania Stoners, and competes in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Based in Allentown, the team originally played its home games at J. Birney Crum Stadium. In 2008, the team captured the NPSL league championship. Since 2009, the Stoners play their home games at Whitehall-Coplay School District's Zephyr Sports Complex in nearby Whitehall. The Easton-based Northampton Laurels FC, of the Women's Premier Soccer League, also play at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

Economy

Allentown's economy has historically been and continues to be manufacturing based. The city serves as the location of corporate headquarters for several large, global companies, including Air Products & Chemicals, PPL, and others. The largest employer in Allentown is Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, with more than 7,800 employees.

In 2008, after more than 100 years in the city, Mack Trucks announced that their Allentown-based corporate headquarters would be relocated to Greensboro, North Carolina in 2009, though Mack continues to operate its primary manufacturing facility in neighboring Lower Macungie Township. It was expected that the move would result in the loss of approximately 600 jobs.

Shopping

The Center City area along Hamilton Street between 5th and 10th Streets was the primary shopping district in Allentown until the mid-1970s. The "Downtown", as it was referred to, was anchored by Hess's (9th and Hamilton); H. Leh and Company (7th and Hamilton), and Zollinger and Harned (6th and Hamilton) department stores. Along Hamilton street were scores of retail businesses; large banks; movie theaters and various small restaurants and lunch counters. On the second and third stories, professional offices could be found in many of the smaller buildings with storefronts on the first floor. Alfred L. Reichenbach, Mayor of Allentown in the late 1910s, traveled to Europe and saw beautiful hanging gardens and floral lamp posts in Paris and in some cities in Germany. He was also an amateur horticulturist and enjoyed all varieties of flowers and anyone visiting the mayor's office during his tenure would find vases of flowers for all seasons on his desk and tables. In fact, it was he who had floral boxes planted outside the mayor's window so he, and his fellow citizens, could enjoy seasonal floral designs. He believed that it would be a good way to beautify the downtown shopping district and encouraged the City Council with idea of purchasing the floral lamp posts during the renovations of Hamilton Street in 1916.

Businesses generally operated from 9am to 5pm Monday-Saturday, staying open until 9pm on Thursdays and starting in the mid-1960s, also on Monday nights. Until 1952, Lehigh Valley Transit street trolleys operated east-west along the length of Hamilton Street, and also north and south along 8th Street. The major transit station downtown being at 8th & Hamilton.

In the 1950s, a privately owned parking lot system (Park & Shop) to accommodate shoppers and downtown workers began to be built by razing old buildings generally within a block of Hamilton between Walnut and Linden streets, with Hamilton Street merchants providing validation for shoppers parking tickets. In the early 1970s, Hess's and Leh's built large, private multilevel covered parking decks connected to their department stores to attract customers.

In 1966, the Whitehall Mall opened along MacArthur Road, just north of Allentown in Whitehall Township. It was the first enclosed shopping center north of Philadelphia when it opened. Having two major department stores (Sears & Roebuck and Zollinger and Harned) as anchor stores when it opened, its popularity led to the rise of a sprawling retail district along MacArthur Road that continued to expand into the early 1990s. After a major renovation in 1998, the Whitehall Mall's anchors included Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, and Sears.

In the early 1970s, Hess's South, a satellite location of the Hess's downtown store, expanded to become the South Mall, located in South Allentown, at the city's border with Salisbury Township and Emmaus. Today, the South Mall's anchors include Gold's Gym, Petco, Staples, Stein Mart, and The Bon-Ton.

In 1976, the Lehigh Valley Mall opened, just south of the Whitehall Mall, at the intersection of U.S. Route 22 and MacArthur Road. With more than 140 stores, the Lehigh Valley Mall became the largest shopping mall in the region, and presently has anchors including Boscov's, JCPenney and Macy's. A large outdoor shopping addition opened in October 2007, and includes stores such as Apple and Barnes & Noble. Most recently, The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, a large, upscale outdoor shopping mall, opened just south of the city, near Pennsylvania Route 309 and Interstate 78, in Upper Saucon Township.

Hamilton Mall

By the late 1960s, the development of suburban strip shopping centers (Lehigh, Crest Plaza, Two Guys, Mountainville, and Parkway) in the area during the late 1950s and 1960s and especially the opening of the indoor Whitehall Mall in 1966 were steadily reducing the number of shoppers along Hamilton Street. Consumers preferred the convenience of easy access via automobile, and the enclosed Whitehall Mall to the pedestrian outdoor sidewalk shopping which was found along Hamilton Street. The City of Allentown hired the firm of David M. Walker Associates in 1969 to explore the needs of Center City. The 1969 Walker Report concluded that automobile traffic had taken over the downtown shopping area and that a traffic-free business district between Linden, Walnut, Sixth and Tenth Streets be developed and to convert the downtown Hamilton Street shopping area to a "Semimall", later known as "Hamilton Mall". Traffic would no longer be allowed on Hamilton Street. The intersection of Eighth and Hamilton would be closed as well as all half streets intersecting Hamilton. This would create a large pedestrian shopping "superblock" between Center Square and 9th Street, with two smaller shopping blocks between Sixth and Seventh and Ninth and Tenth. Center Square would become a large, pedestrian only area with Seventh street being reduced to one lane on each side of the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument. Hamilton Street would be completely rebuilt, with the existing street removed and replaced by a raised brick walking surface. Large, enclosing canopies would be built on each side of the street to provide shoppers protection from the weather, and small buses would operate east-west between 6th and 10th Streets picking up and dropping off shoppers to give them easy access to retail stores.

During a 30-day test in April 1971, traffic on Hamilton Street was shut down between Sixth and Tenth and Lehigh Valley Transit provided small buses, free of charge for shoppers. Walnut Street, which traditionally ran one way east to west, was reversed to run west-east, with traffic along Hamilton Street being diverted south to Walnut at Twelfth street for eastbound travel. Traffic moving westbound on Hamilton Street was diverted north at Sixth, then moved west along Linden to Twelfth, then south to Hamilton, giving the center city a circular traffic flow around the pedestrian-only Center City.

Problems quickly arose. It was difficult for small merchants downtown to receive deliveries, since the half streets were blocked and the narrow streets did not allow turnarounds of small delivery trucks. Also, the new restriction prohibiting automobile traffic on Hamilton Street was unpopular, and the proposed closing of the Eighth and Hamilton intersection was deemed impractical, since it blocked a major north-south route from South Allentown. Within a week, Eighth Street was reopened. The plan was also changed to allow limited two-lane automobile traffic on Hamilton Street one-way west to east, with limited drop-off and pick-up only parking. Traffic lights were installed at each major street and half street with a speed limit of . The sidewalks would be expanded outwards with canopies covering them.

Final plans were developed and approval was given by City Council in October 1971. Construction of Hamilton Mall began in early 1972, with construction lasting until 1974. Starting at 10th street and proceeding east, one full block at a time was closed to traffic with the existing street surface and sidewalks removed (including the old trolley tracks which had been asphalted over in the 1950s) along with the sidewalks on each side of the street. In addition, the famous downtown sidewalk street lights, which contained hanging flower gardens, were scrapped. Retail store street signs were also removed, including the large signature Hess's department store sign because they interfered with the sidewalk street canopies. The large parking areas at Center Square and comfort station under the square were also removed and turned into large brick sidewalks, along with the resurfacing of Seventh Street between Linden and Walnut Streets.

The construction of Hamilton Mall caused severe disruption in the downtown shopping area for more than two years. During that time, merchants and Center City employees experienced enormous difficulties as sections of Hamilton Street were closed for months at a time. The sidewalks along Hamilton Street were reduced to single path walkways, and piles of rubble, construction material, the sounds of heavy construction equipment took over the downtown area. During the construction period shoppers tended to avoid the downtown area and shop in the suburban malls and shopping centers.

Officially opened in 1974, Hamilton Mall never lived up to the expectations of the city planners. Large numbers of shoppers did not return to the downtown area. The opening of Lehigh Valley Mall in 1976 and other, smaller malls in the suburbs with outside satellite stores increased the number of businesses closing along Hamilton Street. The major expansion of MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township also led to fewer and fewer shoppers on Hamilton Mall. Improvements were made along Hamilton Mall by removing the overhead sidewalk canopies and installing a new generation of street lights, designed to replicate the hanging flower gardens of the ones removed in the construction were erected to improve the Mall's appearance. Parking meters were installed to allow longer term, but still limited parking. However, by the late 1970s, increased suburbanization led to a general decline in the popularity of the downtown shopping district. Retail shopping downtown declined with the closing of Leh's (1987) and Zollinger's (1978) downtown and culminated with the last major department store, Hess's, being sold-off in 1994, eventually being closed and subsequently demolished in 2000. Instead of a shopping Mecca, the use of downtown Allentown has turned into office buildings and increasingly has become a center-city campus for city and county government workers, along with those of PPL.

Media

Print

Allentown-based print media include ''The Morning Call'', the city's daily newspaper, and ''Pulse Weekly'', an arts and entertainment newspaper.

Television

Allentown is part of the Philadelphia DMA (designated market area). The four major Philadelphia-based network stations serving Allentown include: KYW-TV (CBS), WCAU (NBC), WPVI (ABC) and WTXF (Fox). Other available Philadelphia stations include: WPHL-TV, WPSG, and others. Several New York City stations also serve the area, including WPIX and WWOR-TV.

Additionally, the city is served by three Lehigh Valley television stations: WFMZ Channel 69 (independent) and WBPH-TV (Christian), both in Allentown, and WLVT Channel 39 (PBS) in Bethlehem.

Radio

Allentown's radio market is ranked 68th largest in the United States by Arbitron. Stations licensed to Allentown include WAEB-AM (talk, news and sports), WAEB-FM (Top 40 music), WDIY (NPR and public radio), WHOL (tropical music), WLEV (adult contemporary music), WMUH (Muhlenberg College campus radio), WSAN (Fox Sports Radio and Philadelphia Phillies broadcasts), WZZO (hard rock music) and others. In addition, many New York City and Philadelphia stations can be received in Allentown.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, the city was 58.5% White, 12.5% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 2.2% Asian, and 5.0% were two or more races. 42.8% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.

The unemployment rate for the entire Lehigh Valley area is 9.8% as of February 2010, with Allentown's unemployment rate estimated at over 10%.

As of the census of 2000, there were 106,632 people and 25,135 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,011.5 inhabitants per square mile (2,320.8/km²). There were 45,960 housing units at an average density of 2,591.1 per square mile (1,000.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.55% White, 7.85% African American, 0.33% Native American, 2.27% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 13.37% from other races, and 3.55% from two or more races. 24.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino.

{| id="toc" style="float: left; margin-right: 2em; width: 39%; font-size: 75%;" cellspacing="3" !colspan="3"|Allentown Compared |- | 2010 Census || Allentown || PA || U.S. |- | Total population || 118,032 || 12,702,379 || 308,745,538 |- | Population, percent change, 2000-2010 || +10.7% || +3.4% || +9.7% |- | Population density || 6,557.3/sq. mi. || 275.8/sq. mi. || 81.4/sq. mi. |- | White (non-Hispanic) || 58.5% || 81.9% || 72.4% |- | Black || 12.5% || 10.8% || 12.6% |- | Hispanic (any race) || 42.8% || 5.7% || 16.3% |- | Asian || 2.2% || 2.7% || 4.8% |}

There were 42,032 households in the city, of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18, 39.4% had married couples living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% had non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The city's average household size is 2.42 and the average family size was 3.09.

The city's population broken down by age ranges was 24.8% under 18, 11.2% from 18–24, 29.8% from 25–44, 19.1% from 45–64, and 15.1% 65 years or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there are 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,016, and the median income for a family was $37,356. Males had a median income of $30,426 versus $23,882 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,282. 18.5% of the population and 14.6% of families were below the poverty line. 29.4% of those under the age of 18 and 10.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Law and government

Politics and elections

Allentown operates as a Pennsylvania third-class city with the "strong-mayor" version of the mayor-council form of government since 1970 wherein the mayor serves as chief executive and administrative officer for the municipality and City Council serves as the legislative and oversight body providing checks and balances on the system.

Elected "at-large", the mayor serves a four year term under the city's home rule charter. The current city mayor is Democrat Ed Pawlowski, who replaced Roy C. Afflerbach after his single-term in office from 2002 to 2006. The legislative branch, the Allentown City Council, consists of seven council members elected at large for four-year staggered terms. City Council holds regular public meetings in order to enact legislation in the form of ordinances and resolutions. The current president of the City Council is Michael D'Amore. The City Controller, who is responsible for the oversight of the city's finances, is also elected and serves a four-year term.

Federally, Allentown is part of Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district, represented by Republican Charlie Dent, elected in 2004. The state's senior member of the United States Senate is Democrat Bob Casey, Jr.. The state's junior member of the United States Senate is Republican Pat Toomey, elected in 2010. The Governor of Pennsylvania is Republican Tom Corbett.

Allentown was named the 12th most conservative in America by the non-partisan Bay Area Center.

Crime

City name	Allentown
Year	2010
Homicide	7.625*
Forcible rape	67
Robbery	460
Aggravated assault	196
Violent crime	732
Burglary	1,327
Larceny theft	3,345
Motor vehicle theft	417
Arson	29
Property crime	5,089
Source url	http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/preliminary-annual-ucr-jan-dec-2010/data-tables/table-4/table-4-oklahoma-wisconsin
Source name	2010 FBI UCR Data
Notes	2010 population: 118,032 }}

For 2010, crime is down in the City of Allentown for the fourth consecutive year. The statistics were released May 25, 2011 as part of the FBI’s 2010 Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report.

The decline was led by a 31 percent drop in the number of homicides from 13 to 9. Motor vehicle theft fell 11.4 percent. Burglary was down 6.1 percent. Reported robberies, rapes and property crimes also fell. There were slight increases in the number of aggravated assaults and arsons. The number of violent crimes in the city has fallen more than 30 percent since 2006.

Fire Department

The city of Allentown is protected by the professional firefighters of the Allentown Fire Department( AFD). The AFD operates six fire stations in the city, and also operates a fire apparatus fleet of seven engines, two trucks, one Haz-Mat Unit, one Dive Unit, one Bomb Squad, one Fireboat, one Deputy Chief's unit, and one Battalion Chief's Unit. The AFD responds to approximately 15,000 emergency calls annually, of which nearly 10,000 are for EMS assists. {| class=wikitable |- valign=bottom ! Engine Company ! Truck Company ! Special Unit ! Command Unit ! Address |- | Engine 4, Engine 9 || || || Battalion Chief, Deputy Chief || 733 Chew St. |- | Engine 6 || Truck 2 || Bomb Squad || || 643 Ridge Ave. |- | Engine 10 || Truck 1 || || || 2145 Turner St. |- | Engine 11(Quint) || || Haz-Mat. Unit, Dive Unit || || 1901 Lehigh St. |- | Engine 13 || || Fireboat 1 || || 720 N. Irving St. |- | Engine 14 || || || || 164 W. Susquehanna St. |}

Education

Public schools

The City of Allentown is served by the Allentown School District, which is the fourth largest school district in Pennsylvania, with 18,118 students (based on 2005–2006 enrollment data).

The city maintains two public high schools for grades 9–12, William Allen High School, which serves students from the southern and western parts of the city, and Louis E. Dieruff High School, which serves students from the eastern and northern parts. Each of these Allentown area high schools competes athletically in the Lehigh Valley Conference. Both schools play their home football games at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

Allentown School District's four middle schools, for grades 6–8, include: Francis D. Raub Middle School, Harrison-Morton Middle School, South Mountain Middle School and Trexler Middle School. The city is served by 16 elementary schools, for kindergarten through fifth grade, including: Central, Cleveland, Hiram W. Dodd, Jackson, Jefferson, Lehigh Parkway, Lincoln, McKinley, Midway Manor, Mosser, Muhlenberg, Ritter, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Union Terrace and Washington. The Roberto Clemente Charter School, also located in the Allentown School District, is a Title I charter school which provides educational services to mainly Hispanic students in grades 6 through 12.

The Allentown School District is currently undertaking a 10 year, $120 million facilities improvement plan. The plan includes renovation of all 23 schools in the district. Most of the schools to be renovated will be expanded. Two additional elementary schools and a fifth middle school are expected to be built.

Private schools

Allentown has two parochial high schools, Allentown Central Catholic High School and Lehigh Valley Christian High School, though both schools draw students from both Allentown and the city's suburbs. Other Allentown-based parochial schools (serving grades K-8) include: Cathedral of Saint Catharine of Siena School, Holy Spirit School, Lehigh Christian Academy, Mercy Special Learning Center, Our Lady Help of Christians School, Sacred Heart School, Saint Francis of Assisi School, Saint Paul School, and Saint Thomas More School. The Roman Catholic-affiliated parochial schools in Allentown are operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. The Grace Montessori School is a pre-school and early elementary Montessori school run as an outreach of Grace Episcopal Church. The Swain School, a non-sectarian private school founded in 1929, is also located in Allentown. The city also has a private Jewish school, the Jewish Day School.

Colleges and universities

Two four-year colleges are located in Allentown: Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College. A satellite campus of Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), a comprehensive community college which offers two and four year degree programs, continuing education and industry training, is located in Center City Allentown.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Airports

The city's primary airport, Lehigh Valley International Airport , is located three miles (5 km) northeast of Allentown in Hanover Township. Newark (New Jersey) International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, which are within an hour to an hour-and-a-half driving distance of Allentown, provide additional flight services to Lehigh Valley residents. The region is also served by Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport , a two-runway general aviation facility located in South Allentown used predominantly by private aviation.

Roads

Four expressways run through the Allentown area, with associated exits to the city: Interstate 78, which runs from Harrisburg in the west to New York City's Holland Tunnel in the east; the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, (which is part of I-476), runs from Plymouth Meeting outside Philadelphia in the south to Interstate 81 at Clarks Summit in the north; Pennsylvania Route 309, which runs from Philadelphia in the south to The Poconos in the north; and U.S. Route 22, which runs from Cincinnati, Ohio in the west to Newark, New Jersey in the east. Public parking within Allentown is managed by the Allentown Parking Authority.

There are nine major inbound roads to Allentown: Airport Road, Cedar Crest Boulevard, Fullerton Avenue, Hamilton Boulevard, Lehigh Street, Mauch Chunk Road, Pennsylvania Route 145 (MacArthur Road), Tilghman Street, and Union Boulevard.

Buses

Public transportation within Allentown is provided by LANTA, a public bus system serving Lehigh and Northampton Counties. Several private bus lines, including Bieber Tourways, Susquehanna Trailways and Trans-Bridge Lines, provide bus service from Allentown to New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal, Philadelphia's Greyhound Terminal, Atlantic City's Bus Terminal, and other regional locations.

Rail

Historically, Allentown has been served by Central Railroad of New Jersey, Conrail, Lehigh and New England Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, and Reading Railroad. While Allentown currently has no passenger rail service (the last public rail service, which was part of the Bethlehem-Philadelphia service provided by Conrail under contract with SEPTA, ceased operating in 1979), several of the Allentown-area stations once used for passenger service have been preserved through their current commercial use. In November 2008, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), along with both Lehigh and Northampton Counties, commissioned a study to explore the merits of expanding the New Jersey Transit line to the Lehigh Valley, which would potentially include stops in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.

Allentown is a regional center for commercial freight rail traffic. Currently, Norfolk Southern's primary hump classification yards are located in Allentown, and the city is also served by the R.J. Corman Railroad Group.

Telecommunications

Allentown and the Lehigh Valley area were once served only by the 215 area code from 1947 (when the North American Numbering Plan of the Bell System went into effect) until 1994. With the city and region's growing population, however, Allentown and its surrounding areas were afforded area code 610 in 1994. Today, the city of Allentown is covered by 610. An overlay area code, 484, was added to the 610 service area in 1999. A plan to introduce area code 835 as an additional overlay was rescinded in 2001.

Health systems

Allentown is home to several hospitals and health networks, including St. Luke's Health Network, Sacred Heart Hospital, the Lehigh Valley Health Network, the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and the Allentown State Hospital.

Utilities

Electricity in Eastern Pennsylvania is provided by PPL, also known as PP&L.; UGI provides natural gas for homes. Two cable systems, RCN Corporation (originally Twin County Cable) and Service Electric Cable TV, Inc., have served the city since the 1960s. The area's only landfill, IESI Bethlehem, is located in nearby Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Water, sewer, waste, recycling, and yard waste are controlled by the city.

==Parks and recreation==

City parks

The City of Allentown has one of the best park systems in the country. Much of the city's park system can be attributed to the efforts of industrialist Harry Clay Trexler. Inspired by the City Beautiful movement in the early 20th century, Trexler helped create West Park, a park in what was then a community trash pit and sandlot baseball field in an upscale area of the city. The park, which opened in 1909, features a bandshell, designed by noted Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer, which has long been home to the Allentown Band and other community bands. Trexler also facilitated the development of Trexler Park, Cedar Parkway, Allentown Municipal Golf Course and the Trout Nursery in Lehigh Parkway. Trexler was also responsible for the development of the Trexler Trust, which to this day continues to provide private funding for the maintenance and development of Allentown's park system.

City parks in Allentown include Bicentennial Park (4,600 seat mini-stadium built for sporting events), Cedar Creek Parkway (127 acres, including Lake Muhlenberg, Cedar Beach and the Malcolm W. Gross Memorial Rose Garden), East Side Reservoir (15 acres), Kimmets Lock Park (5 acres), Lehigh Canal Park (55 acres), Lehigh Parkway (999 acres), Old Allentown Cemetery (4 acres), Jordan Park, South Mountain Reservoir (157 acres), Trexler Memorial Park (134 acres), Trout Creek Parkway (100 acres), Joe Daddona Park (19 acres) and West Park (6.59 acres).

Festivals

Mayfair Festival of the Arts, an arts and crafts festival established in 1986, is held each May at Cedar Beach Park in Allentown. The Great Allentown Fair runs annually, in early September, on the grounds of the Allentown Fairgrounds, where it has been held since 1889. The first Allentown Fair was held in 1852, and between 1852 and 1899 it was held at the "Old Allentown Fairgrounds," which was located north of Liberty Street between 5th and 6th streets. The J. Birney Crum Stadium plays host to the Collegiate Marching Band Festival, held annually since 1995, as well as other marching band festivals and competitions.

Stadiums

The city has two large capacity outdoor stadiums. Coca-Cola Park, with an overall capacity of 10,000, was constructed in 2007 and is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the AAA-level minor league team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. J. Birney Crum Stadium, used for Lehigh Valley Conference football and other purposes, has a seating capacity in excess of 15,000. The city has no large indoor stadium, but major indoor sporting and concert events are held at Stabler Arena, in neighboring Bethlehem.

Other recreational sites

Other recreational sites in Allentown include Allentown Municipal Golf Course, Cedar Beach Pool, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, Fountain Pool, Irving Pool, Jordan Pool and Mack Pool.

Notable people

Allentown is the birthplace of, or home to, several notable Americans, including:

Thom Browne, fashion designer

Frank N. D. Buchman, founder of the Oxford Group and Moral Re-Armament religious movements

Leon Carr, Broadway composer and television advertising songwriter

Michaela Conlin, actress, Fox's ''Bones''

Gloria Ehret, professional golfer, winner of the 1966 LPGA Championship

Peter Gruner, professional wrestler known as Billy Kidman

Tim Heidecker, star of Adult Swim show ''Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!''

Lee Iacocca, former chairman of Chrysler Corporation

Keith Jarrett, jazz musician

Michael Johns, health care executive and former White House speechwriter

Brian Knobbs, former professional wrestler

William Marchant, playwright and screenwriter

Ed McCaffrey, former professional football player, Denver Broncos, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers

Lara Jill Miller, voice actress, Cartoon Network's ''The Life and Times of Juniper Lee''

Andre Reed, former professional football player, Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins

Matthew Riddle, professional UFC mixed martial fighter

Jerry Sags, former professional wrestler

Amanda Seyfried, model and actress, The CW's ''Veronica Mars'', HBO's ''Big Love'' and the films ''Mamma Mia!'' and ''Dear John''

Andrea Tantaros, political analyst and commentator

Christine Taylor, actress and wife of actor Ben Stiller

Donald Voorhees, Emmy-nominated orchestral conductor

Lauren Weisberger, author, ''The Devil Wears Prada''

In popular culture

Allentown's reputation as a rugged blue collar city has led to many references to the city in popular culture:

Allentown is mentioned in the movie "The Hangover II" when Ed Helms sings a cover of Billy Joel's song "Allentown"

Allentown is mentioned in the song "Fed to Death" by indie rock band Say Anything. It is the opening song on their 2009 album ''Say Anything''.

On August 10, 2003, CNN broadcast ''Achieving the Perfect 10'', a critical documentary about the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, located in Allentown.

The TV production company Medstar Television, which produced the series ''Medical Detectives'' from 1996 to 2000, and the series ''Forensic Files'' from 2000 on, is headquartered in Allentown. Locations throughout the city have been used as settings for dramatic reenactments of crimes profiled by the shows.

The 1990 dark comedy film, ''I Love You to Death'', directed by Lawrence Kasdan, is based on an attempted murder that happened in 1984 in Allentown.

Allentown's Dorney Park was a film location for John Waters' ''Hairspray'', released in 1988.

The city is the subject of the popular Billy Joel song, "Allentown", originally released on ''The Nylon Curtain'' album in 1982. Joel's song uses Allentown as a metaphor for the resilience of working class Americans in distressed industrial cities during the recession of the early 1980s.

Allentown is the hometown of up and coming showgirl Peggy Sawyer in the long-running, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical ''42nd Street'', released in 1980, and its associated Academy Award-nominated movie. When Sawyer expresses her desire to leave Broadway to return to Allentown, the show's director and entire cast successfully dissuade her by singing the famed musical number "The Lullaby of Broadway."

Allentown is mentioned twice in the 1970 Frank Sinatra song "The Train," which appears as the first song on his album Watertown''.

Allentown was the film location for much of James Neilson's film ''Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows'', released in 1969.

''Hiding The Bell'', a 1968 historical fiction novel by Ruth Nulton Moore, chronicles the events surrounding the hiding of the Liberty Bell in Allentown in 1777.

Allentown was the subject of the 1963 Irving Gordon song "Allentown Jail", which was subsequently recorded by several other artists, including The Kingston Trio, The Lettermen, The Seekers and Jo Stafford.

In the 1960 musical ''Bye Bye Birdie'', character Rosie Alvarez is from Allentown. In the song "Spanish Rose," she sings: "I'm just a Spanish Tamale according to Mae/ Right off the boat from the tropics, far, far away/ Which is kinda funny, since where I come from is Allentown, PA."

Allentown is mentioned in the 1957 book, ''On the Road'', by Jack Kerouac.

Landmarks and popular locations

19th Street Theatre (opened 1928), 527 N. 19th St. Home of Civic Theatre of Allentown, which stages plays and hosts fine arts film series. Albertus L. Meyers Bridge (built 1913), 8th & Union Sts. Also known as the Eighth Street Bridge, once the longest and highest concrete bridge in the world.

Allentown Art Museum (built 1934), 31 N. 5th St. Collection of over 13,000 works of art, along with an associated library.

Allentown Cemetery Park (established 1765), 10th & Linden Sts. Burial site of the city's earliest residents, including American Revolutionary War and War of 1812 veterans. Allentown Fairgrounds (established 1889), 400 N. 17th St. Home of the Allentown Fair (started 1852), Allentown Farmers Market, Agri-Plex exhibit hall and The Ritz restaurant. Allentown Post Office (built 1933–34), 5th & Hamilton Sts. Classical Moderne-style building with Art Deco ornamentation. Interior murals of local historical scenes by New York artist Gifford Reynolds Beal. Allentown Symphony Hall (built 1896), 23 N. 6th St. Owned by the Allentown Symphony Association, a 1200-seat performing arts facility that is home to the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, as well as Pennsylvania Sinfonia, Community Concerts of Allentown, Allentown Band and Community Music School of the Lehigh Valley. Bogert's Covered Bridge (built 1841), S. 24th St. & Fish Hatchery Rd. One of the region's oldest covered bridges, a span over the Little Lehigh Creek in Allentown's Lehigh Parkway.

Frank Buchman House, 117 N. 11th St. Home of Frank N. D. Buchman (1878–1961), founder of the Oxford Group and Moral Re-Armament religious movements.

Butz-Groff House (built 1872), 111 N. 4th St. Dark stone Victorian home in what was once the center of Allentown's most fashionable residential district. Built by attorney Samuel A. Butz and later owned by his grandson, Joseph C. Groff. Cedar Crest College (founded 1867), 100 College Dr. Liberal arts college with an campus on the city's western edge. Centre Square and Soldiers & Sailors Monument (built 1899), 7th & Hamilton Sts. Monument honoring American Civil War veterans from the 47th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. William F. Curtis Arboretum (started 1915), 100 College Dr. Located at Cedar Crest College, a collection of 140 species of trees registered with the American Public Gardens Association. Earl F. Hunsicker Bicentennial Park (built 1939, renovated 1976), Lehigh & S. Howard Sts. Originally Fairview Field, home to the city's Minor League Baseball teams, 1939–47. As Bicentennial Park, hosted the Allentown Ambassadors, 1997–2003.

Hess's Department Store (closed 1996 and demolished in 2000).

Homeopathic Healing Art Plaque, 31 S. Penn St. Marks the location of the world's first medical college exclusively devoted to the practice of homeopathic medicine. Established in 1835, the college went bankrupt in 1845 and relocated to Philadelphia, where it developed into what is today Hahnemann University Hospital.

J. Birney Crum Stadium (built 1948), 22nd & Turner Sts. Home football field of Allentown's three high schools, a 15,000-capacity stadium once the largest in Pennsylvania.

Muhlenberg College (founded 1848), 2400 Chew St. Liberal arts college located on an campus in Allentown's West End. Old Allentown Cemetery (established 1846), N. Fountain & Linden Sts. City's second oldest cemetery, located next to Allentown Cemetery Park. Burial site of Tilghman Good (1830–87), two-term mayor and commander of the 47th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers during the American Civil War.

Old Court House County Museum, 5th & Hamilton Sts.

Old Zion Reformed Church and Liberty Bell Shrine Museum, 622 Hamilton St. Located on Hamilton Street in center city Allentown, the temporary hiding place of the Liberty Bell in 1777–78 during the Revolutionary War. Portland Place (built 1902), 718 Hamilton St. Former headquarters of Lehigh Portland Cement Company, remodeled in the art deco style in 1939–40. Over the front door was a glass relief by artist Oronzio Maldarelli, the largest glass mural panel in the world at the time. When the company (now Lehigh Cement Company) relocated, the sculpture was installed in the building's new lobby. PPL Building (built 1928), 9th & Hamilton Sts. Allentown's tallest building (23 stories), headquarters to PPL Corporation. Revolutionary War Plaque (erected 1926), 8th & Hamilton Sts. On the side of the Farr Building, marks the site of a hospital for Revolutionary War soldiers in 1777–78. Sterling Hotel (1890), 343–45 Hamilton St. Three-story, Romanesque-style brick hotel. Now a popular bar and music venue. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1984. Trout Hall (built 1770), 414 Walnut St. Oldest house in Allentown, built by James Allen, son of William Allen, the city's founder.

Yocco's Hot Dogs (opened 1922). Regionally-popular restaurant chain with six Lehigh Valley locations, including three in Allentown.

Museums and cultural organizations

Allentown Art Museum

Allentown Band

Allentown Public Library

Allentown Symphony Orchestra

America On Wheels

Baum School of Art

Chen Arts Group

Civic Theatre of Allentown

Da Vinci Science Center Lehigh County Historical Society and Lehigh Valley Heritage Center Museum Lehigh Valley Arts Council

Liberty Bell Museum

Marine Band of Allentown

Municipal Band of Allentown

MunOpCo Music Theatre

Museum of Indian Culture

Pioneer Band of Allentown

The Theatre Outlet

Sister cities and twin cities

Allentown has three official sister cities as designated by Sister Cities International: Ma'alot-Tarshiha, Israel Vinci, Tuscany, Italy * Lelów, Poland

Allentown also has two designated "twin cities": Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States Easton, Pennsylvania, United States

See also

Central Park (Amusement Park)

References

External links

City of Allentown – PA – Official Site.

Allentown QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau.

Allentown Travel Information.

Allentown travel guide from Wikitravel.

Category:1735 establishments Category:Cities in Pennsylvania Category:County seats in Pennsylvania Category:Early American industrial centers Category:Populated places established in 1735 Category:Populated places on the Lehigh River Category:Populated places in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Category:1735 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies

zh-min-nan:Allentown, Pennsylvania bar:Allenschteddel bg:Алънтаун ca:Allentown (Pennsilvània) da:Allentown (Pennsylvania) pdc:Allenschteddel, Pennsilfaani de:Allentown (Pennsylvania) es:Allentown (Pensilvania) eo:Allentown (Pensilvanio) fr:Allentown (Pennsylvanie) gl:Allentown, Pensilvania ko:앨런타운 (펜실베이니아 주) id:Allentown, Pennsylvania ia:Allentown, Pennsylvania it:Allentown (Pennsylvania) kw:Allentown, Pennsylvani sw:Allentown, Pennsylvania ht:Allentown, Pennsilvani la:Allentown (Pennsilvania) nl:Allentown (Pennsylvania) ja:アレンタウン (ペンシルベニア州) pnb:ایلن ٹاؤن pl:Allentown (Pensylwania) pt:Allentown (Pensilvânia) ru:Аллентаун sah:Аллентоун simple:Allentown, Pennsylvania sr:Алентаун fi:Allentown sv:Allentown tl:Allentown, Pennsylvania tr:Allentown, Pennsylvania vec:Allentown (Pennsylvania) vi:Allentown, Pennsylvania vo:Allentown (Pennsylvania) war:Allentown, Pennsylvania zh:阿伦敦 (宾夕法尼亚州)

name	Lily Allen
background	solo_singer
birth name	Lily Rose Beatrice Allen
birth date	May 02, 1985
birth place	Hammersmith, London, England
instrument	Guitar
genre	Pop
occupation	Musician, songwriter, presenter
years active	1988–present
label	London, Regal, Capitol
website	}}

Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper, better known as Lily Allen (born 2 May 1985), is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative. Allen abandoned school and concentrated on improving her performing and compositional skills. Afterwards, she created several demo songs and, near the end of 2005, she created a profile on MySpace where she made some of her recordings public.

A contract was signed with the label Regal Recordings, as the views on MySpace rose to tens of thousands. In 2006, she began to work on completing what would be her first studio album and its first mainstream single "Smile" reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. Her debut record, ''Alright, Still'', was well received on the international market, selling over 2.6 million copies and brought Allen a nomination at the Grammy Awards, BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. She then began hosting her own talk-show, ''Lily Allen and Friends'', on BBC Three.

Her second major album release, ''It's Not Me, It's You'', saw a genre shift for her, having more of an electropop feel, rather than the ska and reggae influences of the first one. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Australian ARIA Charts and was appreciated by the critics, noting the singer's musical evolution and maturity. It spawned the hit singles "The Fear" and "Fuck You", popular mostly in Europe. Allen and Amy Winehouse have been credited with starting a process that led to the media-proclaimed "year of the women" in 2009 that has seen five female artists making music of "experimentalism and fearlessness" long nominated for the Mercury Prize.

During the autumn of 2010, Allen opened a fashion rental shop "Lucy in Disguise" with her sister Sarah, followed by the 2011 launching of her own record label.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London, daughter of Welsh-born comedian and actor Keith Allen and English, Portsmouth-born, film producer Alison Owen. She has an older sister, Sarah; a younger brother, Alfie Owen-Allen (who was the subject of her song "Alfie"); and a younger sister Rebecca. She has a number of half-siblings. At the age of three, Allen appeared on ''The Comic Strip Presents...'' episode "The Yob," which her father had co-written. When Allen was four years old, her father left the family. Allen grew up with her mother living on a council estate during her early childhood. Her family settled in the North London borough of Islington. Allen lived for a while with comedian Harry Enfield while her mother dated him. She is the god-daughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey. The late Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer was close to Allen. Allen has fond memories of the week and a half they would spend together at Glastonbury Festival as part of a regular collective centred on Strummer and her father. Strummer's musical past would not come into focus for Allen until after his death.

She attended some of the UK's most expensive fee-paying public schools; Allen attended 13 schools in all, including Prince Charles's junior alma mater, Hill House School, Millfield, Bedales School and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking. When Allen was 11, former University of Victoria music student Rachel Santesso overheard Allen singing Wonderwall by Oasis in the school's playground; impressed, Santesso, who later became an award-winning soprano and composer, called Allen into her office the next day and started giving her lunchtime singing lessons. This would lead to Allen singing ''Baby Mine'' from Disney's Dumbo at a school concert. Allen would tell ''Loveline'' that the audience was "brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good". At that point Allen said she knew that music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system. Allen played piano to grade 5 standard and achieved Grade 8 in singing. She also played violin, guitar and trumpet as well as being a member of a chamber choir. Her first solo was "In the Bleak Midwinter." Allen made an appearance as a lady-in-waiting in the 1998 film ''Elizabeth'', which was co-produced by her mother. She dropped out of school at age fifteen, not wanting to "spend a third of her life preparing to work for the next third of her life, to set herself up with a pension for the next third of her life."

2002-2005: Career beginnings

When her family went to Ibiza on holiday, Allen told her mother that she was staying with friends but remained in Sant Antoni de Portmany instead. She earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealing ecstasy. Allen met her first manager, George Lamb in Ibiza. She was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen. However, she eventually used her father's connections to get signed to London Records in 2002. When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk songs many of which were written by her father. She then studied horticulture to become a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. Allen began writing songs, while her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building.

In 2005, Allen was signed to Regal Recordings; they gave her £25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such as ''X&Y;'' (Coldplay) and ''Demon Days'' (Gorillaz). Allen then created an account on MySpace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005. The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of "LDN" were rush-released, reselling for as much as £40. Allen also produced two mixtapes — ''My First Mixtape'' and ''My Second Mixtape'' — to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, ''The Observer Music Monthly'' (OMM), a magazine published in ''The Observer'', took interest in March 2006. Few people outside of her label's A&R; department knew who she was, so the label was slow in responding to publications wanting to report about her. She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later.

2006–08: ''Alright, Still'' and television

The success convinced her label to allow her more creative control over the album and to use some of the songs that she had written instead of forcing her to work with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producers Greg Kurstin and Mark Ronson, finishing the rest of the album in two weeks. Allen's debut album, ''Alright, Still'', was released in July 2006. Most of the tracks had been previewed on her MySpace page, including the singles "Smile", "LDN", "Knock 'Em Out", and "Alfie". In September 2006, "Smile" was made available on the United States version of iTunes Store. By December 2006, her music video for ''Smile'' had been played on various music channels as well as the song getting a little airplay. ''Entertainment Weekly'' named ''Alright, Still'' as one of the top 10 albums of 2006 despite the fact that it had not yet been released in the U.S. Allen also did several promotional ads for MTV as their ''Discover and Download'' artist of the month for January 2007. The album was released in the United States on 30 January 2007, landing at 20 on the ''Billboard'' Album Charts. By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 520,000 copies in the United States.

In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, replacing M.I.A. who had cancelled. During the festival she reunited two members of The Specials an act that guitarist Lynval Golding claimed played a "massive part" in the group's 2009 reunion. She also sang the vocals on the top ten single, "Oh My God", a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs song by Mark Ronson. The single, "Littlest Things" from Allen's album produced by Ronson, helped earn him a "Producer of the Year – Non Classical" 2008 Grammy Award. She also provided background vocals to a couple of songs on the Kaiser Chief's third album in 2008. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for "Smile". Allen began dating musician Ed Simons of the Chemical Brothers in September 2007, and in December, Allen announced that she and Simons were expecting a child. Allen later suffered a miscarriage.

Due to her outspokenness, Allen was the subject of many controversies early in her career. Disparaging remarks about musicians Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, Bob Geldof, Amy Winehouse, Kylie Minogue, and Katy Perry have all garnered minor press attention. She later said that making fun of other pop stars was a result of a lack of confidence, saying "I felt like 'Oh God, I'm short, fat, ugly and I hate all these people who flaunt their beauty.'" On 28 June 2007, Allen was arrested in London for allegedly assaulting photographer Kevin Rush while she was leaving a nightclub in London's West End. Prior to this, she had expressed discomfort with attention from the paparazzi on her MySpace blog. By February 2009 she had stopped addressing controversies about herself on her blog because she found it "boring when people just pick stuff up and write about it. People get hurt, people get upset." In September 2009, she shut down her MySpace account and stopped social networking completely in December due to the abuse she was taking.

Allen signed a one series contract to present her own BBC Three TV show entitled ''Lily Allen and Friends'' based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career. Guests included Mark Ronson, Joanna Page, James Corden, Lauren Laverne, Roisin Murphy, Louis Walsh, and Danny Dyer. The show received a 2% share of the total multi-channel audience share despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign. Allen was quoted in a British tabloid as rating the show "probably five out of 10" and said "I made a lot of money out of it". Citing Allen's rapid development as a TV host and her popularity among its target audience BBC Three announced it was renewing ''Lily Allen and Friends'' for a second season. BBC Three controller Danny Cohen later said that the show will not air in the Spring of 2009 as originally scheduled because of music commitments.

Allen performed at a benefit concert for War Child, an international child protection agency that works with children affected by war. Backed by Keane, Allen sang "Smile" and "Everybody’s Changing". Although the singer is a staunch supporter of the Labour Party, she has been credited with helping inspire a parliamentary rebellion against Prime Minister Gordon Brown when she wrote to all Members of Parliament asking them to back an amendment to an energy bill. She has since confirmed her support for the UK Labour Party and for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in particular.

2008–09: ''It's Not Me, It's You''

After the release of her first album, her parent record company, EMI, was taken over by Terra Firma. She also changed her management company from Empire Artist Management to Twenty-First Artists, although her core team remained in place. At the urging of her record company, Allen tried unsuccessfully to create the album with several writers and producers. Allen eventually returned to Greg Kurstin who had written three songs for ''Alright, Still.'' The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles. Before returning to Kus, Allen co-wrote the songs for the album with Kurstin who played piano on it. This is a change from her earlier work in which she wrote lyrics for finished tracks. Allen released a statement saying "We decided to try and make bigger sounding, more ethereal songs, real songs ... I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work. I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that." She posted two new song demos on her MySpace page and planned to release a mixtape to give her fans an idea of what the new direction was.

Allen cancelled a scheduled appearance at the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival telling festival promoter John Giddings the reason for the cancellation was that her album was behind schedule. Giddings said that the reason given was not acceptable and possibly a lie. Giddings decided not to sue her. Photos of her drunk and topless in the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press. Her appearance at the 2008 ''Glamour'' Awards also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated wearing a dress covered in decapitated Bambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange with Elton John. On 29 June 2008, Allen performed at the Glastonbury Festival alongside producer Mark Ronson. An emotional Allen dedicated her performance of "Littlest Things" to her grandmother who died the night before. ''It's Not Me, It's You'' was first scheduled for an early 2008 release, but her miscarriage and creative issues delayed the release date to the autumn. During autumn 2008, EMI was undergoing restructuring. Due to this environment, a decision was made to move the album's eventual release date. An online game, ''Escape the Fear,'' was created by Matmi as part of the viral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album. Since its release, the game has topped the worldwide viral charts three times, including the week of Christmas—a highly contested time of the year. By 18 February 2009, the game had been played over two million times. The singer and The Clash guitarist Mick Jones performed The Clash’s song "Straight to Hell" on an album for the charity Heroes.

''It's Not Me, It's You'' was released in February 2009. It debuted at the number 1 position in the UK, Canada, and Australia and the number 5 position in the United States. The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom. The release of the album was a factor in EMI’s more than trebling its earnings. The first single from the album, "The Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release. The second single released from the album, "Not Fair", reached the number 9 position. She began her It's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throught the next two years until September 2010. Her work on this album with Greg Kurstin earned her the ''Songwriters of the Year'' at the 2010 Ivor Novello Awards. In addition, she won with Kurstin ''Best Song Musically and Lyrically'' and ''Most Performed Work'' for "The Fear". Allen appeared overwhelmed by this recognition from what she considered "real awards". In October 2010, Allen was awarded by the United States music licensing organization Broadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear". Allen has been named the face of the National Portrait Gallery as part of the gallery's marketing campaign. The picture was photographed by Nadav Kander emblazoned with the words, "Vocalist, Lyricist, Florist" . Allen and Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills, raised £48,350 for the children’s charity The Hoping Foundation. The pair sang "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" at a karaoke auction fundraiser. Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer for Chanel personally hired and photographed Allen for a campaign to promote a luxury line of handbags due to launch in September 2009.

In May 2009, French football magazine ''So Foot'' published a fake interview in which Allen was quoted as making derogatory remarks about David and Victoria Beckham and Ashley and Cheryl Cole. Some of the material was reprinted in the British tabloid ''The Sun''. Both publications later apologized and paid damages to Allen.

2009–present: Marriage and musical hiatus

Allen began dating Sam Cooper, the owner of a building company, in the summer of 2009. In September 2009, Allen announced that she was considering a career in acting and that she would not renew her record contract. Allen additionally stated that she has "no plans" to make another record. After the British government's plans to implement a three strikes policy for file sharing copyright infringement, Lily Allen came out in strong support for disconnecting offenders. Creating a blog entitled ''"It’s Not Alright"'' against file sharing, it subsequently came to light that she had copied text directly from the Techdirt website of an interview with 50 Cent. This led to an exchange on the Internet, which culminated in accusations being made that Allen had infringed on other artists' copyrights by creating mix tapes early in her career, that she then made available via her website. A group of supporters of filesharing launched a denial of service attack dubbed Operation Payback that shut down Allen's website and targeted other critics. On 1 October 2009, Allen and several other musicians released the world's first digital musical petition aimed at pressuring world leaders attending the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen. The petition included a cover of the song "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil. She featured on the UK top five single, "Just Be Good to Green" by Professor Green in June 2010.

In August, she began a musical hiatus following a performance at the Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire, England. On 5 August 2010, Allen announced that she was pregnant with her and Cooper's first child, later confirmed to be a boy due early in 2011. Allen and her sister opened their own clothing store entitled "Lucy In Disguise" on 15 September 2010. Allen's pregnancy involved early complications, including "about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding." Six months into her pregnancy, Allen contracted a viral infection which caused her to suffer a pre-term delivery. On 6 November, Allen was rushed to the hospital, where she responded well to treatment for the blood poisoning condition septicaemia. Citing invasion of privacy and copyright infringement, in November 2010 Allen took legal action against Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Daily Mail after the Daily Mail published photographs of Allen's home.

Allen and Cooper became engaged over the Christmas holidays in December 2010 while vacationing in Bali. In January 2011, Allen launched her own record label In the Name Of, financially backed by Sony Music. The first act signed to the label was New York noise pop duo Cults. In February 2011, Allen started penning songs for the musical version of Bridget Jones's Diary which is scheduled to open in London's West End in 2012. Allen and Cooper wed on 11 June 2011 at St. James church in Cranham, Gloucestershire, England. The designer of Allen's wedding dress confirmed she was pregnant.

Musical style

Allen's early released songs saw her take on a thick Cockney accent while singing against retro productions. Her music was used as part of an exhibition at the British Library tracing the history of Cockney English. Her songs also featured other elements, such as the ska influence on second single, "LDN". She was also noted for her liberal use of crude words in her lyrics. Allen has said she cringes now when listening to tracks from ''Alright, Still'', as it reminds her that she was a "sort of over-excitable teenager who desperately wanted attention" when she wrote it. Desiring to move on from the retro sound that many other artists had since adapted after her debut, on ''It's Not Me, It's You'' Allen ventured in a new direction sonically and lyrically, the first single from the album was an electropop track denouncing consumerism. While Allen admittedly did not set out to make a revolutionary record, her new music direction and willingness to write lyrics that tackled less common subjects were lauded by critics.

Discography

''Alright, Still'' (2006)

''It's Not Me, It's You'' (2009)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen

References

External links

Wilson, Beth. ''Smile: The Story of Lily Allen''. Omnibus Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1849380614

Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:BBC people Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English television talk show hosts Category:Capitol Records artists Category:English environmentalists Category:English female singers Category:English feminists Category:English people of Welsh descent Category:English pop singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English songwriters Category:English television personalities Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:LGBT rights activists from England Category:Old Bedalians Category:Old Millfieldians Category:People from Hammersmith Category:People from Islington Category:Singers from London Category:Miscarriage victims Category:People educated at Millfield Preparatory School Category:People educated at Hill House School

ar:ليلي ألين be-x-old:Лілі Ален bg:Лили Алън cs:Lily Allenová cy:Lily Allen da:Lily Allen de:Lily Allen et:Lily Allen es:Lily Allen fa:لی‌لی آلن fr:Lily Allen ga:Lily Allen ko:릴리 앨런 hr:Lily Allen id:Lily Allen is:Lily Allen it:Lily Allen he:לילי אלן lv:Lilija Allena lt:Lily Allen hu:Lily Allen nl:Lily Allen ja:リリー・アレン no:Lily Allen pl:Lily Allen pt:Lily Allen ro:Lily Allen ru:Аллен, Лили sc:Lily Allen simple:Lily Allen sk:Lily Allen sr:Лили Ален sh:Lily Allen fi:Lily Allen sv:Lily Allen te:లిలీ అలెన్ th:ลิลี อัลเลน tr:Lily Allen uk:Лілі Аллен vi:Lily Allen zh:莉莉·艾倫

name	Allen Iverson
height ft	6
height in	0
weight lb	165
position	Point guard / Shooting guard
birth date	June 07, 1975
birth place	Hampton, Virginia
high school	Bethel (Hampton, Virginia)
college	Georgetown (1993-1996)
nationality	American
draft round	1
draft pick	1
draft team	Philadelphia 76ers
draft year	1996
years1	–
team1	Philadelphia 76ers
years2	2006–
team2	Denver Nuggets
years3
team3	Detroit Pistons
years4
team4	Memphis Grizzlies
years5
team5	Philadelphia 76ers
years6	2010–2011
team6	Beşiktaş (Turkey)
career start	1996
highlights	NBA Most Valuable Player () NBA Rookie of the Year () 11× NBA All-Star (2000–2010) 4× NBA scoring champion (, –, ) 3× All-NBA First Team (, , ) 3× All-NBA Second Team (, –) All-NBA Third Team () NBA All-Rookie First Team () 2× NBA All-Star Game MVP (2001, 2005)
Letter	i
Bbr	iversal01 }}

Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975) is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season. Iverson is an eleven-time NBA All-Star which includes winning the All-Star MVP award in 2001 and 2005.

Winning the NBA scoring title during the 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2004–05 seasons, Iverson was one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, despite his small stature (listed at 6 feet, 0 inches). His regular season career scoring average of 26.7 points per game ranks sixth all-time, and his playoff career scoring average of 29.7 points per game is second only to Michael Jordan. Iverson was also the NBA Most Valuable Player of the 2000–01 season and led his team to the 2001 NBA Finals the same season. Iverson represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning the Bronze medal. He also played for the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies, before returning to the 76ers for part of the 2009-10 season.

He was rated the 5th greatest NBA shooting guard of all time by ESPN in 2008.

Early life

Allen Iverson was born to his single 15-year old mother, Ann Iverson, in Hampton, Virginia, and was given his mother's maiden name after his father Allen Broughton left her.

At Bethel High School, Iverson started as quarterback for the school football team, and started as point guard for the school basketball team. Allen was able to lead both teams to state championships.

On February 14, 1993, Iverson and several of his friends became involved in an altercation with a group of white teenagers at the Circle Lanes bowling alley in Hampton, Virginia. Allegedly, Iverson's crowd was raucous and had to be asked to quiet down several times, and eventually a shouting duel began with another group of youths. Shortly thereafter, a huge fight erupted, pitting the white crowd against the blacks. During the fight, Iverson allegedly struck a woman in the head with a chair. He, along with three of his friends who are also African-American, were the only people arrested. Iverson, who was 17 at the time, was convicted as an adult of the felony charge of maiming by mob, a rarely used Virginia statute that was designed to combat lynching. Iverson and his supporters maintained his innocence, claiming that he left the alley as soon as the trouble began. Iverson said, "For me to be in a bowling alley where everybody in the whole place know who I am and be crackin' people upside the head with chairs and think nothin' gonna happen? That's crazy! And what kind of a man would I be to hit a girl in the head with a damn chair? I rather have 'em say I hit a man with a chair, not no damn woman."

Iverson drew a 15-year prison sentence, with 10 years suspended. After Iverson spent four months at Newport News City Farm, a correctional facility in Newport News, Virginia, he was granted clemency by Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder, and the Virginia Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in 1995 for insufficient evidence. This incident and its impact on the community is explored in the documentary film ''No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson''.

College basketball

In spring 1994, Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson visited Iverson at Hampton's Bethel High School, and recruited him to play for the Hoyas.

At Georgetown, Iverson won the Big East Rookie of the Year award and two Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards, and was named to the All Rookie Tournament First Team. He ended his college career as the Hoyas' all-time leader in career scoring average, at 23.0 ppg. While in school, Iverson learned his signature crossover from walk-on teammate Dean Berry and developed it in practices.

Professional career

Philadelphia 76ers

First four seasons (1996–2000)

After two seasons at Georgetown, Iverson was selected first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996 NBA Draft. He played with the Sixers for 10 years. During his tenure he was Rookie of the Year, League MVP, 2x All-Star MVP, and led the league in scoring for four years. After his rookie season, during which he led the 76ers in points, assists and minutes, Iverson was named the 1997 NBA Rookie of the Year and was a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

After the 1998–1999 season, during which he averaged 26.8 points, earned his first scoring title and was named to his first All NBA first team., Iverson made his first trip to the playoffs. He started all ten playoff games and averaged 44.4 minutes per game despite being hampered by a number of nagging injuries. Iverson led the Sixers to an upset over the Orlando Magic, before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the second round.

Prior to the next season, Iverson signed a six-year, $70 million contract extension. That year, Iverson averaged 28.4 points and again led the 76ers into the playoffs. In the process, Iverson was selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the first time of what would be 11 straight appearances. In the playoffs, Iverson averaged 26.2 points, 4.8 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, with a high of 40 points in the first round opener at Charlotte on April 22, 2000. Philadelphia advanced past Charlotte, but was eliminated again by Indiana in the second round. That season, he was the only player other than Shaquille O'Neal to receive a NBA Most Valuable Player vote.

MVP season and trip to the finals (2000–01)

In the 2000 off-season, the 76ers actively tried to trade Iverson, and had agreed to terms with the Detroit Pistons before Matt Geiger, who was included in the deal, refused to forfeit his $5 million trade kicker.

During the 2000–01 season, Iverson led his team to wins in the first ten games of the season, and was named starter at the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, where he won the game MVP. The Sixers also posted a 56–26 record, the best in the Eastern Conference that season. He also averaged a then-career high 31.1 points, winning his second NBA scoring title in the process. Iverson won the NBA steals title at 2.5 a game. Iverson was named NBA Most Valuable Player; at 6 feet and 165 pounds, he became the shortest and lightest player to win the MVP award. He had 93 first-place votes out of a possible 124. He was also named to the All NBA First team for his accomplishments. In the playoffs, Iverson and the Sixers defeated the Indiana Pacers in the first round, before meeting Vince Carter-led Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Semifinals. The series went the full seven games. In the next round, the Sixers defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, also in seven games, to advance to the 2001 NBA Finals against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Iverson led the Sixers to their first finals since their 1983 championship. In game one of the 2001 NBA Finals, Iverson scored a playoff high 48 points and beat the heavily favored Lakers 107–101. In the game he notably stepped over Tyronn Lue after hitting a crucial shot. Iverson would go on to score 23, 35, 35, 37 in games 2–5, all losing efforts though the Sixers were not swept like many predicted. Iverson enjoyed his most successful season as an individual and as a member of the Sixers during the 2000–01 NBA season. In the 2001–02 season, the Sixers failed to repeat their success. Iverson and others struggled with injury, and despite Iverson averaging a league high 31.4 points per game the Sixers fell to the sixth seed in the 2002 Playoffs, where they fell to the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Iverson began using a basketball sleeve during this season during his recovery from bursitis in his right elbow. Other players, including Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant, have adopted the sleeves as well, as did fans who wore the sleeve as a fashion statement. Iverson continued wearing his sleeve long after his elbow had healed. Some believe that the sleeve improved Iverson's shooting ability, while Steven Kotler of ''Psychology Today'' suggested that the sleeve may act as a placebo to prevent future injuries.

Relationship with Larry Brown

For most of the early portion of Iverson's career, his head coach with the Sixers was Larry Brown. Iverson often praised Brown, saying that he would not have achieved so much in the sport without Brown's guidance. However, the two frequently clashed; for example, when the 76ers were defeated in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs, Brown criticized Iverson for missing team practices. Iverson responded by saying, "We're sitting here, I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice," and went on a rant that included the word "practice" over twenty times.

In the 2002–2003 season, Iverson once again put up stellar scoring numbers (27.6 points per game), was named an NBA All-Star and led the Sixers to the playoffs. This time they were eliminated by the Detroit Pistons in the second round after a 6-game series. Brown left the 76ers in 2003, following the playoff loss. After his departure from the 76ers, both he and Iverson indicated that the two were on good terms and genuinely fond of one another. Iverson later reunited with Brown when Iverson became a member and co-captain of the 2004 United States Olympic men's basketball team.

Falling out with Sixers

During the latter part of the 2003–2004 season, Iverson bristled under the disciplinarian approach of the Sixers' new head coach Chris Ford. This led to a number of contentious incidents, including Iverson being suspended for missing practice, fined for failing to notify Ford that Iverson would not attend a game because he was sick, and refusing to play in game because he felt "insulted" that Ford wanted Iverson to come off the bench as he worked his way back from an injury.

The 2005–06 NBA season would be the last full season for Iverson in a Sixers uniform. He averaged a career high 33.0 points per game, but the Sixers missed the playoffs for the second time in three years. He had also begun to clash with coach Jim O'Brien, who was fired after the season.

On April 18, 2006, Iverson and Chris Webber arrived late to the Sixers' fan appreciation night and home game finale. Players are expected to report 90 minutes before game time, but both Iverson and Webber arrived around tipoff. Coach Maurice Cheeks notified the media that neither would be playing and general manager Billy King announced that Iverson and Webber would be fined. During the 2006 off-season, trade rumors had Iverson going to Denver, Atlanta, or Boston. None of the deals were completed. Iverson had made it clear that he would like to stay a Sixer.

On November 29, 2006, following a conflict at practice, Iverson stormed out of the gymnasium. That same evening, Iverson missed a corporate sponsor night at Lucky Strike Lanes in Philadelphia. All the 76ers besides Iverson attended this mandatory event. Iverson was fined an undisclosed amount by the 76ers. Iverson claimed he overslept after taking medication for pain related to having two abscessed teeth pulled but it was reported that Iverson told teammates earlier in the day he planned to blow off the event and was simply going to take the fine.

On December 8, 2006, Iverson reportedly demanded a trade from the Sixers (although he would deny that). As a result of the demand and missing practice prior to a matchup against the Washington Wizards, Iverson was told not to play nor attend any further games. During that game, which was televised nationally on ESPN, Sixers Chairman Ed Snider confirmed the trade rumors by stating "We're going to trade him. At a certain point, you have to come to grips with the fact that it's not working. He wants out and we're ready to accommodate him."

Denver Nuggets

On December 19, 2006, the Philadelphia 76ers sent Iverson and forward Ivan McFarlin to the Denver Nuggets for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two first-round picks in the 2007 NBA Draft. At the time of the trade, Iverson was the NBA's number two leading scorer with teammate Carmelo Anthony being number one.

On December 23, 2006, Iverson played his first game for the Nuggets. He had 22 points and 10 assists in a losing effort to the Sacramento Kings. In Iverson's first year as a Nugget they made the playoffs. They won the first game and lost the next four to the San Antonio Spurs.

Iverson was fined $25,000 by the NBA for criticizing referee Steve Javie following a game between the Nuggets and Iverson's former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, played January 2, 2007. During the course of the game, Iverson committed two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. After the game, Iverson said, "I thought I got fouled on that play, and I said I thought that he was calling the game personal I should have known that I couldn't say anything anyway. It's been something personal with me and him since I got in the league. This was just the perfect game for him to try and make me look bad."

Former referee Tim Donaghy supported the claim that Javie had a longstanding hatred for Iverson in his book, ''Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal that Rocked the NBA'', which a Florida business group published through a self-publishing arm of Amazon.com after it was dropped by a division of Random House, who cited liability issues after reviewing the manuscript.

In a December 2009 interview with ''60 Minutes'', Donaghy said he and fellow referees thought the punishment was too light. Before Iverson's Nuggets played the Utah Jazz on January 6, 2007, Donaghy said he and the two other officials working the game agreed not to give Iverson favorable calls as a way to "teach him a lesson". Iverson attempted 12 free throws, more than any other player on either team. On 12 drives to the basket, he drew five fouls, three of which Donaghy whistled himself, and did not receive a call on one play in which he was obviously fouled by Utah's Mehmet Okur.

Iverson returned to Philadelphia on March 19, 2008 to a sell-out crowd and received a standing ovation in a 115–113 loss.

Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies

On November 3, 2008, Iverson was dealt from the Denver Nuggets to the Detroit Pistons for guard Chauncey Billups, forward Antonio McDyess and center Cheikh Samb.

Iverson, who had worn a number 3 jersey his entire NBA career, switched to number 1 for the Pistons. The number 3 was being worn by Rodney Stuckey, and although Stuckey stated that he would be willing to give up the number, the NBA ruled that a change in numbers could not take place until after the season.

Iverson scored at least 24 in four of his first five games with Detroit (They won 3 of the 5), and would score 20 or more and 6 or more assists on a consistent basis, but as the season wore on he would lose playing time to Rodney Stuckey.

On April 3, 2009, it was announced by Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars that Iverson would not play the remainder of the 2008–09 season. Dumars cited Iverson's ongoing back injury as the reason for his deactivation, although two days prior Iverson stated publicly that he'd rather retire than be moved to the bench as Piston's coach Michael Curry had decided.

On September 10, 2009, Iverson signed a one-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. Iverson stated that "God chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career," and that "I feel that they are committed to developing a winner."

However, Iverson again expressed his displeasure at being a bench player, and left the team on November 7, 2009 for "personal reasons." On November 16, the Grizzlies announced the team terminated his contract by "mutual agreement". Iverson played three games for the Grizzlies.

Return to the 76ers

On November 25, 2009, commentator Stephen A. Smith published on his blog a statement attributed to Iverson announcing plans for retirement, which also said, "I feel strongly that I can still compete at the highest level."

Less than a week later on November 30, Iverson and his representatives met with a Philadelphia 76ers delegation about returning to his former team, and accepted a contract offer two days later. General manager Ed Stefanski declined to go into the terms of the agreement, but an unnamed source told the Associated Press that Iverson agreed to a one-year non-guaranteed contract at the league minimum salary. Iverson would receive a prorated portion of the $1.3 million minimum salary for players with at least 10 years of experience, and the contract would become guaranteed for the remainder of the 2009-10 season if he remained on the roster on January 8, 2010. Stefanski said the team made the decision to pursue Iverson after starting guard Louis Williams suffered a broken jaw and was expected to miss at least 30 games.

On December 7, 2009, Iverson made his return to Philadelphia, garnering a thunderous ovation from the sold-out crowd, in a loss against his former team, the Denver Nuggets. He finished the game with 11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal and no turnovers. Iverson's first win in his return to Philadelphia came one week later, in a 20-point effort against the Golden State Warriors, ending the Sixers' 12-game losing streak. (which stood at 9 games before Iverson returned)

On February 22, 2010, Iverson left the 76ers indefinitely, citing the need to attend to his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah's health issues. He had missed five games earlier in February and missed the All-Star Game after he was voted in as starter. On March 2, Stefanski announced Iverson would not return to the 76ers for the rest of the season.

Beşiktaş

On October 26, 2010, Yahoo! Sports reported that Iverson agreed in principle to a two-year, $4 million net income contract with Beşiktaş, a Turkish Basketball League team competing in the second-tier level of pan-European professional basketball, the Eurocup (the competition below the Euroleague level). The club announced the signing at a press conference in New York City, on October 29, 2010. Iverson made his debut for Beşiktaş 16 November 2010, in a Eurocup 91-94 loss to Serbian side Hemofarm. Iverson scored 15 points in 23 minutes.

On December 27, 2010, Besiktas players refused to practice over delayed wage payments. It was reported on the same occasion that Iverson's pay was always on time.

Iverson returned to the United States in January 2011 for calf surgery.

International career

Iverson was a member of the USA World University Games Team in Japan in 1995, that included future NBA stars Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Kerry Kittles, Othella Harrington, Austin Croshere and others. Iverson led all USA players in scoring, assists and steals, averaging 16.7 points per game, 6.1 assists per game, and 2.9 steals per game. He helped lead the team to an undefeated record in route to a 141-81 victory over the host country, Japan, for the gold medal.

Iverson helped the USA to a 10–0 record, the gold medal and a qualifying berth for the 2004 Olympics at the August 20–31 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico. Started all eight games he played in, and averaged a team second best 14.3 ppg., 3.8 apg., 2.5 rpg., 1.6 spg., while shooting 56.2 percent (41–73 FGs) from the field and 53.6 percent (15–28 3pt FGs) from 3-point and 81.0 percent (17–21 FTs) from the foul line.

In the USA's 111–71 victory over Canada on August 25, he accounted for an USA Olympic Qualifying single game record 28 points and made a single game record seven 3-pointers. Playing just 23 minutes, he shot 10-for-13 overall, 7-for-8 from 3-point, 1-for-1 from the foul line and added three assists, three steals and one rebound. All seven of his 3-point field goals were made during the final 7:41 of the third quarter.

He finished the tournament ranked overall tied for 10th in scoring, tied for fourth in steals, fifth in 3-point percentage, tied for seventh in assists, and ninth in field goal percentage (.562). Iverson also missed the USA's final two games because of a sprained right thumb which was suffered in the first half of the August 28 Puerto Rico game. In a game against Puerto Rico, he recorded 9 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the field overall, and added five assists and three rebounds in 26 minutes of action in the USA's 101–74 exhibition game victory on August 17 in New York. He was also named to the 2003 USA Senior National Team on April 29, 2003.

2004 Olympics

}} The team's performance at the Olympic Games, however, would ultimately prove to be a disappointment. During the exhibition period prior to the games, Iverson and LeBron James were benched for a game, for having arrived late at a practice session. The United States' team won a close game against Germany, which had failed to qualify for the Olympic competition. Iverson did succeed in keeping the game from going into overtime with a half-court shot in the closing seconds. Despite the win, the team continued to struggle. After losing to the Puerto Rican team during round robin play, they would ultimately win a bronze medal.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1996–97 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 76 || 74 || 40.1 || .416 || .341 || .702 || 4.1 || 7.5 || 2.1 || .3 || 23.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1997–98 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 80 || 80 || 39.4 || .461 || .298 || .729 || 3.7 || 6.2 || 2.2 || .3 || 22.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 48 || 48 || 41.5 || .412 || .291 || .751 || 4.9 || 4.6 || 2.3 || .2 || 26.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 70 || 70 || 40.8 || .421 || .341 || .713 || 3.8 || 4.7 || 2.1 || .1 || 28.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 71 || 71 || 42.0 || .420 || .320 || .814 || 3.8 || 4.6 || 2.5 || .3 || 31.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 60 || 59 || 43.7 || .398 || .291 || .812 || 4.5 || 5.5 || 2.8 || .2 || 31.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 82 || 82 || 42.5 || .414 || .277 || .774 || 4.2 || 5.5 || 2.7 || .2 || 27.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 48 || 47 || 42.5 || .387 || .286 || .745 || 3.7 || 6.8 || 2.4 || .1 || 26.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 75 || 75 || 42.3 || .424 || .308 || .835 || 4.0 || 7.9 || 2.4 || .1 || 30.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 72 || 72 || 43.1 || .447 || .323 || .814 || 3.2 || 7.4 || 1.9 || .1 || 33.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 15 || 15 || 42.7 || .413 || .226 || .885 || 2.7 || 7.3 || 2.2 || .1 || 31.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Denver | 50 || 49 || 42.4 || .454 || .347 || .759 || 3.0 || 7.2 || 1.8 || .2 || 24.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Denver | 82 || 82 || 41.8 || .458 || .345 || .809 || 3.0 || 7.1 || 2.0 || .2 || 26.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Denver | 3 || 3 || 41.0 || .450 || .250 || .720 || 2.7 || 6.7 || 1.0 || .3 || 18.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 54 || 50 || 36.5 || .416 || .286 || .786 || 3.1 || 4.9 || 1.6 || .1 || 17.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 3 || 0 || 22.3 || .577 || 1.000 || .500 || 1.3 || 3.7 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 12.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 25 || 24 || 31.9 || .417 || .333 || .824 || 3.0 || 4.1 || .7 || .1 || 13.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 914 || 901 || 41.1 || .425 || .313 || .780 || 3.7 || 6.2 || 2.2 || .2 || 26.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 9 || 9 || 26.6 || .414 || .667 || .769 || 2.6 || 6.2 || 2.3 || .1 || 14.4

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 8 || 8 || 44.8 || .411 || .283 || .712 || 4.1 || 4.9 || 2.5 || .2 || 28.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 10 || 10 || 44.4 || .384 || .308 || .739 || 4.0 || 4.5 || 1.2 || .1 || 26.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 22 || 22 || 46.2 || .389 || .338 || .774 || 4.7 || 6.1 || 2.4 || .3 || 32.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 5 || 5 || 41.8 || .381 || .333 || .810 || 3.6 || 4.2 || 2.6 || .0 || 30.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 12 || 12 || 46.4 || .416 || .345 || .737 || 4.3 || 7.4 || 2.4 || .1 || 31.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 5 || 5 || 47.6 || .468 || .414 || .897 || 2.2 || 10.0 || 2.0 || .4 || 31.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Denver | 5 || 5 || 44.6 || .368 || .294 || .806 || .6 || 5.8 || 1.4 || .0 || 22.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Denver | 4 || 4 || 39.5 || .434 || .214 || .697 || 3.0 || 4.5 || 1.0 || .2 || 24.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 71 || 71 || 45.1 || .401 || .327 || .764 || 3.8 || 6.0 || 2.1 || .2 || 29.7

Personal life

Iverson married his high school sweetheart, Tawanna, in August 2001. The couple has five children.

During the 1997 offseason, Iverson and his friends were stopped by policemen for speeding late at night and was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and for possession of marijuana. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to community service.

During the 2000 offseason, Iverson recorded a rap single called "40 Bars". However, after being criticized for its controversial lyrics, he eventually was unable to release it. Going under his moniker, ''Jewelz'', the album was alleged to have made derogatory remarks about homosexuals. After criticism from activist groups and NBA Commissioner David Stern, he agreed to change the lyrics, but ultimately never released the album.

On February 24, 2004, Iverson urinated in a trash can at Bally's Atlantic City casino and was told by casino management not to return.

On December 9, 2005 after the Sixers defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, Iverson paid a late-night visit to the Trump Taj Mahal. After winning a hand at a three-card-stud poker table, Iverson was overpaid $10,000 in chips by a dealer. When the dealer quickly realized the mistake and requested the chips back, Iverson refused and a heated head-turning argument between him and casino staff began. Atlantic City casino regulations reportedly state that when a casino makes a payout mistake in favor of the gambler, he or she must return the money that they did not legitimately win by playing.

Also in 2005, Iverson's bodyguard Jason Kane was accused of assaulting a man at a Washington DC nightclub after the man, Marlin Godfrey, refused to leave the club's VIP section so Iverson's entourage could enter. Godfrey suffered a concussion, a ruptured eardrum, a burst blood vessel in his eye, a torn rotator cuff, cuts and bruises, and emotional injuries. Although Iverson did not touch Godfrey himself, Godfrey sued Iverson for the injuries caused by his bodyguard. In 2007 a jury awarded Godfrey $260,000. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the verdict in 2009.

In a ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' column published March 7, 2010, Stephen A. Smith wrote that according to "numerous NBA sources", Iverson would "either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away", and that Iverson had already been banned from casinos in Detroit and Atlantic City. Smith also wrote that Tawanna, his wife of eight years, had separated from him and filed for divorce, seeking custody of their five children, as well as child support and alimony payments.

In November 2010, Kate Fagan, a 76ers beat writer for the ''Inquirer'' reported that Iverson was "broke" and heavily in debt, "by all accounts except his own", and that a member of Iverson's family had previously contacted NBA teams about a contract for him, as he would not be able to pay that person without a contract.

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders

List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with most points in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

List of Individual NBA Scoring Champions

Notes

External links

Allen Iverson at NBA.com

Eurocup Basketball Profile

Turkish Basketball League Profile

U.S. Olympic Team bio

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:African American rappers Category:American expatriate basketball people in Turkey Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Basketball players from Virginia Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Hampton, Virginia Category:Detroit Pistons players Category:Denver Nuggets players Category:Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Category:Philadelphia 76ers players Category:Point guards Category:Memphis Grizzlies players Category:Beşiktaş basketballers Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

ar:ألن إيفرسون bs:Allen Iverson ca:Allen Iverson cs:Allen Iverson da:Allen Iverson de:Allen Iverson et:Allen Iverson el:Άλεν Άιβερσον es:Allen Iverson fa:آلن آیورسن fr:Allen Iverson gl:Allen Iverson ko:앨런 아이버슨 hr:Allen Iverson id:Allen Iverson is:Allen Iverson it:Allen Iverson he:אלן אייברסון rw:Allen Iverson lv:Elens Aiversons lt:Allen Iverson hu:Allen Iverson nl:Allen Iverson ja:アレン・アイバーソン no:Allen Iverson pl:Allen Iverson pt:Allen Iverson ru:Айверсон, Аллен sl:Allen Iverson sr:Ален Ајверсон sh:Allen Iverson fi:Allen Iverson sv:Allen Iverson ta:ஏலன் ஐவர்சன் th:อัลเลน ไอเวอร์สัน tr:Allen Iverson zh:艾倫·艾佛森

name	Ray Allen
position	Shooting guard
height ft	6
height in	5
weight lb	205
team	Boston Celtics
number	20
birth date	July 20, 1975
birth place	Castle Air Force Base, near Merced, California
nationality	American
high school	Hillcrest (Dalzell, South Carolina)
college	Connecticut (1993–1996)
draft round	1
draft pick	5
draft year	1996
draft team	Minnesota Timberwolves
career start	1996
years1	– | team1 Milwaukee Bucks
years2	– | team2 Seattle SuperSonics
years3	–present | team3 Boston Celtics
highlights	NBA Champion (2008) 10× NBA All-Star (2000–2002, 2004–2009, 2011) All-NBA Second Team () All-NBA Third Team () NBA All-Rookie Second Team () NBA Three-Point Shootout champion (2001) NBA Sportsmanship Award () UPI Player of the Year (1996) Big East Player of the Year (1996) Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1996)
profile	ray_allen
bbr	allenra02
letter	a
medal templates	}}

}} Walter Ray Allen (born July 20, 1975) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association. He has played professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics, and the Boston Celtics; and collegiately for the University of Connecticut Huskies. One of the most accurate 3-point and free throw shooters in NBA history, he is a ten-time NBA All-Star and won an Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2000 United States Men's Basketball Team. Allen has acted in two films, including a co-starring role in the 1998 Spike Lee film ''He Got Game''. On , Allen became the NBA's all-time leader in regular season three-point field goals made, surpassing Reggie Miller's mark of 2,560. On , Allen surpassed Miller's career total of 6,486 three-point field goal attempts.

High school

The third of five children, Ray Allen was born at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California, the son of Flora and Walter Allen. A military child, he spent time growing up in Saxmundham in England, Altus in Oklahoma, Edwards Air Force Base in California, and Germany. He attended high school in Dalzell, South Carolina, where he led Hillcrest High School to a basketball state championship.

College career

Allen attended the University of Connecticut from 1993 to 1996, where he earned All-American status and was named USA Basketball's Male Athlete of the Year in 1995. In 1995–96, his final college season, Allen was a first-team All-American and won the Big East Player of the Year award. Allen finished his UConn career third on the Huskies' career scoring list with 1,922 points and set a single-season school record by connecting on 115 three-pointers in 1995–96.

In 2001, he was named honorary captain of the 25-member UConn All-Century Basketball Team. On February 5, 2007, his name and number were honored at Connecticut's Gampel Pavilion during the "Huskies of Honor" ceremony at halftime of the men's basketball game against the Syracuse Orange.

NBA career

Milwaukee Bucks (1996–2003)

Allen was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the fifth pick of the 1996 NBA Draft. Immediately after his selection, Allen and Andrew Lang were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to fourth pick Stephon Marbury. Allen was a member of the NBA's All-Rookie 2nd Team in 1996. His most successful season with the Bucks occurred during the 2000–01 season as he won the 3-point shootout during All-Star Weekend, was selected to the All-NBA Third Team, and led the Bucks, as part of Milwaukee's "Big Three", alongside Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson, to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Seattle SuperSonics (2003–2007)

Allen remained with the Bucks midway through the 2002–03 season, when he was dealt to the Sonics, along with Ronald Murray, former UConn teammate Kevin Ollie, and a conditional first round draft pick, in exchange for Gary Payton and Desmond Mason. After an injury-riddled 2003–04 season, he was named to the All-NBA 2nd Team and, alongside teammate Rashard Lewis, led the Sonics to the Conference Semifinals in 2005.

During the 2004 preseason, Allen had a brief war of words with Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, whom Allen accused of alienating teammates trying to prove that he did not need Shaquille O'Neal to win games and championships. Allen told the press that if the Lakers remained a mediocre squad, "in about a year or two he will be calling out to (Lakers owner) Jerry Buss that we need some help in here, or trade me." When asked about Allen's comments, Bryant responded, "Don't even put me and that dude in the same breath."

After the 2004–05 season, Allen signed a 5-year, $80 million contract extension. In the 2006–07 regular season, he averaged a career-high 26.4 points per game while adding 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

During his Seattle tenure, Allen achieved many individual accomplishments. On March 12, 2006, Allen became the 97th player in NBA history to score 15,000 points. On April 7, 2006, Allen moved into second place on the NBA's list of all-time 3-point field goals made, trailing only Reggie Miller. On April 19, 2006, Allen broke Dennis Scott's ten-year-old NBA record for 3-point field goals made in a season against the Denver Nuggets.

On January 12, 2007, Allen scored a career-high 54 points against the Utah Jazz in a 122–114 overtime win, the second most in Sonics history. Shortly after, he had ankle surgery on both ankles and missed the remainder of the 2006–07 season.

Boston Celtics (2007–present)

On June 28, 2007, the Sonics traded Allen and Glen Davis, the 35th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, to the Celtics in exchange for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, and the fifth overall pick, Jeff Green. Shortly after acquiring Allen, the Celtics acquired Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett to play alongside Allen and Paul Pierce.

On November 4, 2007, Allen passed 17,000 points for his career with his first of two 3-pointers in overtime in a 98–95 victory against the Toronto Raptors, in which he sank the game winning 3-pointer with three seconds remaining in overtime.

On February 13, 2008, Allen was named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured East All-Star Caron Butler of the Washington Wizards, who was out with a left hip flexor strain, for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans. While LeBron James was given the All-Star MVP Award, many analysts, including the TNT commentators of the game, felt it should have gone to Allen, who scored 14 points in a stretch of 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the East team.

On March 28, 2008, Allen was honored as the 3rd best of the 20 greatest players in franchise history during Milwaukee's ''40th Anniversary Team Celebration'', but could not attend the festivities because of the Celtics' game against the New Orleans Hornets. The Boston Celtics finished 66-16, and were the #1 seed in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. The Celtics struggled in the first two rounds of the playoffs, losing every single away game, but maintaining a undefeated playoff record at home. The Celtics had defeated the #8 seeded Atlanta Hawks 4-3 and then defeated the #4 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 4-3 as well. They advanced to the NBA Finals after a 4-2 Conference Finals series win over the Detroit Pistons.

On June 12, 2008, Allen would play all 48 minutes and contribute greatly with 19 points and 9 rebounds in what would become the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, with the Celtics coming back from a 24-point deficit at one point in the second quarter and a deficit as large as 20 in the third. In that game, Allen would make the game clinching layup with 16.4 seconds remaining to give the Celtics a 5-point lead and put the game away.

On June 17, 2008, in the series-ending Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Allen tied an NBA Finals record with seven three-pointers in the Celtics' 131–92 victory of the Los Angeles Lakers, and also broke the record for three-pointers made in a NBA Finals series with 22, eclipsing the previous record of 17 by Dan Majerle and Derek Harper.

On February 5, 2009, Allen was named as the All-Star replacement for Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. This marks Allen's ninth time on the All-Star team and the second straight year he has made it alongside teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

On February 22, 2009, with his streak ending at 72, Allen broke the Celtics franchise record in consecutive free throws made previously set by Larry Bird (71).

In the first round of the 2009 playoffs against the Chicago Bulls, game one proved to be tough for Allen. He ended up shooting 1–11 from the field, and the Celtics lost by two. In game 2 however, Allen nailed the game winning three-pointer at the end of regulation with two seconds left to cap off an impressive 30 point night. In Game 6, despite a Boston loss, Allen managed to score 51 points. Boston ended up winning the series in 7 Games. He reunited with former teammate and co-captain of the Seattle Sonics, Rashard Lewis in the Conference Semifinals, this time as opponents, however. After 4 games and a 2–2 series tie, his highest scoring game was a 22 point performance in a Game 2 victory.

On December 10, 2009, Allen scored 18 points to reach the 20,000 point total for his career.

On June 6, 2010, in Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals in a 103–94 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers, Allen set the record for most three-pointers made in an NBA Finals game on 8–11 shooting. He broke Michael Jordan's record of six three-pointers in one half by hitting seven in the first half and had tied Scottie Pippen and Kenny Smith's record for most three-pointers in one game in the NBA Finals by half time. Allen also became the first player in NBA history to have two separate games of scoring at least seven three-pointers in the NBA Finals. In the following game, on June 8, 2010, Allen was one miss shy of tying the NBA Finals record of most consecutive missed shots, going 0–13 from the field, including 0–8 from the 3-point line. He did, however, manage to score 2 points from the free throw line.

After becoming a free agent on July 1, 2010, Allen re-signed two year-deal with the Boston Celtics on July 7 worth $20 million.

During a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 10, 2011, Allen became the all-time NBA leader in total 3-point field goals made (2,562), surpassing Reggie Miller's record of 2,560. The 35 year-old shooting guard finished the game with 20 points but the Celtics eventually lost 92-86. In the 2010-11 season Allen was named to his tenth All-Star game alongside teammates Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Also during All-Star Weekend Allen competed in the 3-Point Shootout, but lost to James Jones of the Miami Heat.

Acting career

In 1998, Allen co-starred alongside Denzel Washington in the Spike Lee film ''He Got Game'' as high school basketball phenomenon Jesus Shuttlesworth. Roger Ebert praised Allen as a "rarity: an athlete who can act," while ''New York'' magazine described him as "graceful and fast in the basketball scenes" while giving "a somberly effective minimalist performance." His role as Shuttlesworth earned him the nickname "Jesus" from teammates and fans.

Allen also appeared as Marcus Blake in the 2001 film ''Harvard Man''.

Personal life

Allen has a borderline case of obsessive–compulsive disorder, to which he attributes his consummate shooting style. He is a member of the Air Jordan brand, which is a subsidiary of Nike.

Allen served as NBA Spokesperson for the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA program. and was selected as NBA Spokesman for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. He also started the "Ray of Hope" Foundation to assist charities in several communities.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1996–97 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 82 || 81 || 30.9 || .430 || .393 || .823 || 4.0 || 2.6 || .9 || .1 || 13.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1997–98 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 82 || 82 || 40.1 || .428 || .364 || .875 || 4.9 || 4.3 || 1.4 || .2 || 19.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 50 || 50 || 34.4 || .450 || .356 || .903 || 4.2 || 3.6 || 1.1 || .1 || 17.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 82 || 82 || 37.4 || .455 || .423 || .887 || 4.4 || 3.8 || 1.3 || .2 || 22.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 82 || 82 || 38.2 || .480 || .433 || .888 || 5.2 || 4.6 || 1.5 || .2 || 22.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 69 || 67 || 36.6 || .462 || .434 || .873 || 4.5 || 3.9 || 1.3 || .3 || 21.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 47 || 46 || 35.8 || .437 || .395 || .913 || 4.6 || 3.5 || 1.2 || .2 || 21.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 29 || 29 || 41.3 || .441 || .351 || .920 || 5.6 || 5.9 || 1.6 || .1 || 24.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 56 || 56 || 38.4 || .440 || .392 || .904 || 5.1 || 4.8 || 1.3 || .2 || 23.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 78 || 78 || 39.3 || .428 || .376 || .883 || 4.4 || 3.7 || 1.1 || .1 || 23.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 78 || 78 || 38.7 || .454 || .412 || .903 || 4.3 || 3.7 || 1.4 || .2 || 25.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 55 || 55 || 40.3 || .438 || .372 || .903 || 4.5 || 4.1 || 1.5 || .2 || 26.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 73 || 73 || 35.9 || .445 || .398 || .907 || 3.7 || 3.1 || .9 || .2 || 17.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 79 || 79 || 36.4 || .480 || .409 || .952 || 3.5 || 2.8 || .9 || .2 || 18.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston || 80 || 80 || 35.2 || .477 || .363 || .913 || 3.2 || 2.6 || .8 || .3 || 16.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston || 80 || 80 || 36.1 || .491 || .444 || .881 || 3.4 || 2.7 || 1.0 || .2 || 16.5 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 1102 || 1098 || 37.0 || .452 || .399 || .893 || 4.3 || 3.6 || 1.2 || .2 || 20.2 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 10 || 0 || 20.1 || .423 || .310 || .765 || 2.6 || 2.2 || 1.1 || .2 || 14.5

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 3 || 3 || 40.0 || .532 || .474 || .615 || 7.3 || 4.3 || 1.0 || .3 || 22.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 5 || 5 || 37.2 || .444 || .385 || .909 || 6.6 || 2.6 || 1.6 || .0 || 22.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001 | style="text-align:left;"| Milwaukee | 18 || 18 || 42.7 || .477 || .479 || .919 || 4.1 || 6.0 || 1.3 || .6 || 25.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 11 || 11 || 39.6 || .474 || .378 || .889 || 4.3 || 3.9 || 1.3 || .4 || 26.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 26 || 26 || 38.0 || .428 || .396 || .913 || 3.8 || 2.7 || .9 || .3 || 15.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 14 || 14 || 40.4 || .403 || .350 || .948 || 3.9 || 2.6 || 1.1 || .4 || 18.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 24 || 24 || 38.5 || .431 || .386 || .863 || 3.3 || 2.6 || .9 || .1 || 16.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011 | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 9 || 9 || 40.1 || .523 || .571 || .960 || 3.8 || 2.4 || 1.2 || .1 || 18.9 |-class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 110 || 110 || 39.5 || .452 || .415 || .900 || 4.0 || 3.4 || 1.1 || .3 || 19.4

Honors

NBA Champion: 2008

Olympic gold medalist as member of the United States men's basketball team that played at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

10-time NBA All-Star: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

All-NBA Second Team: 2005

All-NBA Third Team: 2001

NBA All-Rookie Second Team: 1997

NBA Joe Dumars NBA Sportsmanship Award: 2003

The Sporting News "Good Guy": 2000, 2001, 2005

NBA All-Star Weekend Three-point Shootout champion: 2001

NBA records

Regular season

Three-point field goals made, career: 2,612 (as of May 11, 2011)

Seasons leading the league in three-point field goals made: 3 (–, )

Consecutive seasons leading the league in three-point field goals made: 2 (–)

Three-point field goals made, season: 269 ()

Three-point field goals made, half: 8, second half, for Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets,

Tied with many other players

Three-point field goal attempts, career: 6,554 (as of May 11, 2011)

Playoffs

Consecutive points scored in a game: 19, for Milwaukee Bucks vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Broken by LeBron James on

Three-point field goals made, 6-game series: 22, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 2008 NBA Finals

Three-point field goals made, 7-game series: 28, for Milwaukee Bucks vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 2001 Conference Finals

Three-point field goals made, game: 9, twice 9, for Milwaukee Bucks vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 9, for Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls, (3 OT)

Three-point field goal attempts, game: 18, for Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls, (3 OT)

Finals

Three-point field goals made, 6-game series: 22, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 2008 NBA Finals

Three-point field goals made, game: 8, for Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers,

Also holds second (see below)

Three-point field goals made, half: 7, first half, for Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goals made, quarter: 5, second quarter, for Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goal attempts, 6-game series: 42, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 2008 NBA Finals

All-Star

Three-point field goals made, career: 20

Three-point field goal attempts, career: 64

Three-point field goal attempts, game: 11 (2005)

Three-point field goal attempts, half: 7, second half (2005)

Ranks 2nd in NBA history

Regular season

Three-point field goal attempts, season: 653 () Trailing George McCloud (678, )

Three-point field goal attempts, none made, game: 0—10, for Seattle SuperSonics vs. Boston Celtics,

Playoffs

Field goal attempts, none made, game: 0—13, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goals made, one postseason: 57 (2001)

Trailing Reggie Miller

Three-point field goals made, 7-game series: 27, for Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls, 2009 First Round

Three-point field goals made, game: 8, for Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goals made, half: 7, first half, for Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goal attempts, 7-game series: 58, for Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls, 2009 First Round

Finals

Field goal attempts, none made, game: 0—13, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goals made, game: 7, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers,

Three-point field goal attempts, 7-game series: 41, for Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 2010 NBA Finals

Three-point field goal attempts, game: 11, for Boston Celtics at Los Angeles Lakers,

All-Star

Three-point field goals made, game: 5, twice (2005, 2008)

Three-point field goal attempts, game: 10 (2002)

Ranks 3rd in NBA history

Regular season

Three-point field goals made, game: 10, for Milwaukee Bucks vs. Charlotte Hornets,

Playoffs

Three-point field goals made, 5-game series: 19, for Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat, 2010 First Round

Ranks 4th in NBA history

Highest free throw percentage, season: .952 (237—249) ()

Milwaukee Bucks franchise records

Consecutive games played: 400, from to

Three-point field goals made, career: 1,051

Three-point field goals made, season: 229 ()

Three-point field goals made, game: 10, vs. Charlotte Hornets,

Three-point field goals made, half: 8, second half, vs. Charlotte Hornets, Tied with Tim Thomas (second half, at Portland Trail Blazers, ) and Michael Redd (second half, vs. Houston Rockets, )

Three-point field goal attempts, career: 2,587 Broken by Michael Redd on

Three-point field goal attempts, season: 528 ()

Three-point field goal attempts, game: 17, at Cleveland Cavaliers, (2 OT)

Three-point field goal attempts, game (regulation): 14, four times 14, vs. Utah Jazz, 14, vs. New York Knicks, 14, vs. Charlotte Hornets, 14, vs. Charlotte Hornets,

Tied by Michael Redd

Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder franchise records

Three-point field goals made, season: 269 ()

Three-point field goal attempts, season: 653 ()

Boston Celtics franchise records

Highest free throw percentage, season: .952 (237—249) ()

Consecutive free throws made: 72, from to

Highest three-point field goal percentage, 2010-2011 season: .444 (168 for 378), eclipsing the record set by Eddie House in the 2008-2009 season

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

References

External links

Ray Allen official website

Ray Allen - databasebasketball.com

Ray Allen Video at ESPN Video Archive

''Voices on Antisemitism'' Interview with Ray Allen from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:People from Merced County, California Category:African American basketball players Category:American expatriates in Germany Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from California Category:Basketball players from South Carolina Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Military brats Category:Milwaukee Bucks players Category:Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:People from Jackson County, Oklahoma Category:People from Saxmundham Category:People from Sumter County, South Carolina Category:Seattle SuperSonics players Category:Shooting guards Category:Connecticut Huskies men's basketball players Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

ar:راي ألين ca:Ray Allen de:Ray Allen et:Ray Allen el:Ρέι Άλλεν es:Ray Allen fr:Ray Allen gl:Ray Allen ko:레이 앨런 hy:Ռեյ Ալեն hr:Ray Allen id:Walter Ray Allen it:Ray Allen he:ריי אלן lv:Rejs Allens lt:Ray Allen hu:Ray Allen nl:Ray Allen ja:レイ・アレン pl:Ray Allen pt:Ray Allen ru:Аллен, Рэй sk:Ray Allen sr:Реј Ален fi:Ray Allen sv:Ray Allen ta:ரே ஏலன் tr:Ray Allen zh:雷·阿伦

name	Woody Allen
birth name	Allan Stewart Konigsberg
birth date	December 01, 1935
birth place	The Bronx, New York, U.S.
influences	Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick
occupation	ActorDirectorScreenwriterComedianMusicianPlaywright
home town	New York City, New York
years active	1950–present
spouse
partner	Mia Farrow (1980–92)
relatives	Letty Aronson (sister)
children	Ronan Farrow (son)Bechet Dumaine Allen (daughter)Manzie Tio Allen (daughter)
website	www.woodyallen.com

Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, December 1, 1935) is an award-winning American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, and playwright, whose career spans over half a century.

He began as a comedy writer in the 1950s, penning jokes and scripts for television and also publishing several books of short humor pieces. In the early 1960s, Allen started performing as a stand-up comic, emphasizing monologues rather than traditional jokes. As a comic, he developed the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish, which he insists is quite different from his real-life personality. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen in fourth place on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics, while a UK survey ranked Allen as the third greatest comedian.

By the mid-1960s Allen was writing and directing films, first specializing in slapstick comedies before moving into more dramatic material influenced by European art films during the 1970s. He is often identified as part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmakers of the mid-1960s to late '70s. Allen often stars in his own films, typically in the persona he developed as a standup. The best-known of his over 40 films include the Academy Award-winners ''Annie Hall'' (1977), ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1987) and ''Midnight in Paris'' (2011); and the Golden Globe-winning ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' (1985). Critic Roger Ebert has described Allen as "a treasure of the cinema."

He is also a jazz clarinetist who performs regularly at small venues in Manhattan.

Early life

Allen was born Allan Stewart Konigsberg in The Bronx and raised in Brooklyn, NY, the son of Nettie (born Cherrie; November 8, 1906 – January 27, 2002), a bookkeeper at her family's delicatessen, and Martin Konigsberg (December 25, 1900 – January 13, 2001), a jewelry engraver and waiter. His family was Jewish and his grandparents were immigrants who spoke Yiddish, Hebrew, and German; both of his parents were born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Allen has a sister, Letty, who was born in 1943, and was raised in Midwood, Brooklyn. His childhood was not particularly happy: his parents did not get along, and he had a rocky relationship with his stern, temperamental mother. Allen spoke German quite a bit during his early years. While attending Hebrew school for eight years, he went to Public School 99 (now The Isaac Asimov School for Science and Literature) and to Midwood High School. During that time, he lived in an apartment at 1402 Avenue K, between East 14th and 15th Streets. Unlike his comic persona, he was more interested in baseball than school and his strong arms ensured he was the first to be picked for a team. He impressed students with his extraordinary talent at card and magic tricks. To raise money he began writing jokes (or "gags") for the agent David O. Alber, who sold them to newspaper columnists. According to Allen, his first published joke read: "Woody Allen says he ate at a restaurant that had O.P.S. prices – over people's salaries."

He began to call himself Woody Allen. He would later joke that when he was young he was often sent to inter-faith summer camps, where he "was savagely beaten by children of all races and creeds." At the age of 17, he legally changed his name to Heywood Allen. He was already earning more than both of his parents combined.

After high school, he attended New York University, where he studied communication and film. He later briefly attended City College of New York and soon flunked out. Later, he learned via self-study rather than the classroom. He eventually taught at The New School. He also studied with writing teacher Lajos Egri.

Career

Comedy writer

He became a full-time writer for Herb Shriner, earning $75 a week at first. At the age of 19, he started writing scripts for ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', ''The Tonight Show'', specials for Sid Caesar post-''Caesar's Hour'' (1954–1957), and other television shows. By the time he was working for Caesar, he was making $1500 a week; with Caesar he worked alongside Danny Simon, whom Allen credits for helping him to form his writing style.

In 1961, he started a new career as a stand-up comedian, debuting in a Greenwich Village club called the Duplex. Examples of Allen's standup act can be heard on the albums ''Standup Comic'' and ''Nightclub Years 1964–1968'' (including his classic routine entitled "The Moose"). Together with his managers, Allen developed a neurotic, nervous, and intellectual persona for his stand-up routine, a successful move which secured regular gigs for him in nightclubs and on television. Allen brought innovation to the comedy monologue genre and his stand-up comedy is considered influential.

Allen wrote for the popular ''Candid Camera'' television show, and appeared in some episodes.

Allen started writing short stories and cartoon captions for magazines such as ''The New Yorker''; he was inspired by the tradition of four prominent ''New Yorker'' humorists, S. J. Perelman, George S. Kaufman, Robert Benchley and Max Shulman, whose material he modernized. Allen is also an accomplished author having published four collections of his short pieces and plays. These are ''Getting Even,'' ''Without Feathers'', ''Side Effects'' and ''Mere Anarchy.'' His early comic fiction was heavily influenced by the zany, pun-ridden humour of S.J. Perelman.

Playwright

He also became a successful Broadway playwright and wrote ''Don't Drink the Water'' in 1966. It starred Lou Jacobi, Kay Medford, Anita Gillette and Allen's future movie co-star Tony Roberts. A film adaptation of the play, directed by Howard Morris, was released in 1969, starring Jackie Gleason. Because he was not particularly happy with the 1969 film version of his play, in 1994, Allen directed and starred in a third version for television, with Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik.

The next play Allen wrote that was produced on Broadway was ''Play It Again, Sam'', which he also starred in. The play opened on February 12, 1969, and ran for 453 performances. It also featured Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts. Allen, Keaton and Roberts would reprise their roles in the film version of the play, directed by Herbert Ross. For its March 21 issue, ''Life'' featured Allen on its cover. In 1981, his play ''The Floating Light Bulb'' premiered on Broadway and ran for 65 performances. While receiving mixed reviews, it was noted for giving an autobiographical insight into Allen's childhood, specifically his fascination with magic tricks. He has written several one-act plays, including 'Riverside Drive' and 'Old Saybrook' which both explore well-known Allen themes.

On October 20, 2011, Allen's one-act play ''Honeymoon Motel'' opened as part of a larger piece entitled ''Relatively Speaking'' on Broadway, along with two other one-acts by Ethan Coen and Elaine May.

Early films

His first movie was the Charles K. Feldman production ''What's New Pussycat?'' in 1965, for which he wrote the initial screenplay. Warren Beatty hired him to re-write a script and to appear in a small part in the movie. Over the course of the re-write, Beatty's role was lessened and Allen's increased. Beatty was upset and quit the production. Peter O'Toole was hired for the Beatty role, and Peter Sellers was brought in as well; Sellers was a big enough star to demand many of Woody Allen's best lines/scenes, prompting hasty re-writes. Because of this experience, Allen realized the importance of having control of his own writing. Despite the fact that most of his movies do not gross well and the fact that due to the small amounts of money his producers are able to raise he asks his actors to work for far less than what they would normally be paid, Allen remains one of a handful of writers and directors who has been able to maintain complete control over his own work.

Allen's first directorial effort was ''What's Up, Tiger Lily?'' (1966, co-written with Mickey Rose), in which an existing Japanese spy movie – ''Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Kagi no kagi'' (1965), "International Secret Police: Key of Keys" – was redubbed in English by Allen and his friends with entirely new, comic dialogue.

Allen also appeared in Feldman's follow-up to ''What's New Pussycat?'', the James Bond spoof ''Casino Royale''. A number of writers contributed to the film, but once again Allen scripted his own sequences, although in this case uncredited.

Allen directed, starred in, and wrote ''Take the Money and Run'' in 1969. That same year he starred in his own TV special, ''The Woody Allen Special.'' On the show he performed standup comedy routines before a live audience and acted in a sketch with Candice Bergen in which they appeared nude but their bodies were kept hidden from view by the camera. The special also had Allen interviewing evangelist Billy Graham and performances by the pop vocal group The 5th Dimension, singing their hit singles "Workin' On A Groovy Thing" and "Wedding Bell Blues." The show's sponsor, Libby's, broadcast comical commercials starring Tony Randall as a detective.

From 1971 to 1975, Allen co-wrote, directed, and starred in ''Bananas'', ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'', ''Sleeper'', and ''Love and Death''. ''Take the Money and Run'' and ''Bananas'' were co-written by his childhood friend, Mickey Rose.

In 1972, he wrote and starred in the film version of ''Play It Again, Sam'', which was directed by Herbert Ross and co-starred Diane Keaton. In 1976, he starred in ''The Front'' (directed by Martin Ritt) a humorous and poignant account of Hollywood blacklisting during the 1950s.

Then came two of Allen's finest films. ''Annie Hall'' won four Academy Awards in 1977, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Diane Keaton, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Woody Allen. ''Annie Hall'' set the standard for modern romantic comedy and also started a minor fashion trend with the clothes worn by Diane Keaton in the film (the masculine clothing, such as ties with cardigans, was actually Keaton's own). While in production, its working title was "Anhedonia," a term that means the inability to feel pleasure and its plot revolved around a murder mystery. Allen re-cut the movie after production ended to focus on the romantic comedy between Allen's character, Alvy Singer, and Keaton's character, Annie Hall. The new version, retitled ''Annie Hall'' (named after Keaton, Hall being her original last name and Annie a nickname), still deals with the theme of the inability to feel pleasure. The film is ranked at No. 35 on the ''American Film Institute'' "100 Best Movies" and at No. 4 on the AFI list of "100 Best Comedies."

''Manhattan,'' released in 1979, is a black-and-white film that can be viewed as an homage to New York City. As in many other Allen films, the protagonists are upper-middle class academics. The love-hate opinion of cerebral persons found in ''Manhattan'' is characteristic of many of Allen's movies including ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' and ''Annie Hall.'' ''Manhattan'' focuses on the complicated relationship between a middle-aged Isaac Davis (Allen) and a 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway).

Between ''Annie Hall'' and ''Manhattan'', Allen wrote and directed the dark drama ''Interiors'' (1978), in the style of the late Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, one of Allen's chief influences. ''Interiors'' represented a departure from Allen's "early, funny" comedies (a line from 1980s ''Stardust Memories'').

1980s

Allen's 1980s films, even the comedies, have somber and philosophical undertones. Some are influenced by the works of European directors, notably Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini. ''September'' resembles Bergman's ''Autumn Sonata'', and Allen uses many elements from Bergman's ''Wild Strawberries'' in ''Another Woman''. Similarly, the Federico Fellini classic ''Amarcord'' strongly inspired ''Radio Days''.

''Stardust Memories'' features Sandy Bates, a successful filmmaker played by Allen, who expresses resentment and scorn for his fans. Overcome by the recent death of a friend from illness, the character states, "I don't want to make funny movies any more" and a running gag has various people (including a group of visiting space aliens) telling Bates that they appreciate his films, "especially the early, funny ones." Allen believes this to be one of his best films.

Allen combined tragic and comic elements in such films as ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' and ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'', in which he tells two stories that connect at the end. He also produced a vividly idiosyncratic tragi-comical parody of documentary, ''Zelig''.

He made three films about show business: ''Broadway Danny Rose'', in which he plays a New York show business agent, ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'', a movie that shows the importance of the cinema during the Depression through the character of the naive Cecilia, and ''Radio Days'', which is a film about his childhood in Brooklyn and the importance of the radio. ''Purple Rose'' was named by ''Time'' as one of the 100 best films of all time and Allen has described it as one of his three best films, along with ''Stardust Memories'' and ''Match Point.'' (Allen defines them as "best" not in terms of quality but because they came out the closest to his original vision.)

In 1989, Allen teamed up with directors Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese to make ''New York Stories'', an anthology film about New Yorkers. Allen's short, ''Oedipus Wrecks'', is about a neurotic lawyer and his critical mother. His short pleased critics, but ''New York Stories'' bombed at the box office.

1990s

His 1992 film ''Shadows and Fog'' is a black-and-white homage to the German expressionists and features the music of Kurt Weill. Allen then made his critically acclaimed drama ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992), which received two Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Judy Davis and Best Original Screenplay for Allen. His film ''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' (1993) combined suspense with dark comedy and marked the return of Diane Keaton, Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston.

He returned to lighter movies like ''Bullets Over Broadway'' (1994), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, followed by a musical, ''Everyone Says I Love You'' (1996). The singing and dancing scenes in ''Everyone Says I Love You'' are similar to many musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The comedy ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995), in which Greek drama plays a large role, won an Academy Award for Mira Sorvino. Allen's 1999 jazz-based comedy-drama ''Sweet and Lowdown'' was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Sean Penn (Best Actor) and Samantha Morton (Best Supporting Actress). In contrast to these lighter movies, Allen veered into darker satire towards the end of the decade with ''Deconstructing Harry'' (1997) and ''Celebrity'' (1998). Allen made his only sitcom "appearance" to date (2009) via telephone on the show ''Just Shoot Me!'' in a 1997 episode, "My Dinner with Woody" which paid tribute to several of his films. Allen also provided the lead voice in the 1998 animated film ''Antz'', which featured many actors he had worked with and had Allen play a character that was similar to his earlier neurotic roles.

2000s

''Small Time Crooks'' (2000) (a remake of the 1942 film comedy ''Larceny, Inc.'', written by S. J. Perelman and starring Edward G. Robinson) was his first film with the DreamWorks studio and represented a change in direction: Allen began giving more interviews and made an attempt to return to his slapstick roots. ''Small Time Crooks'' was a relative financial success, grossing over $17 million domestically but Allen's next four films floundered at the box office, including Allen's most expensive film, ''The Curse of the Jade Scorpion'' (with a budget of $26 million). ''Hollywood Ending'', ''Anything Else'', and ''Melinda and Melinda'' were given "rotten" ratings from film-review website Rotten Tomatoes and each earned less than $4 million domestically. Some critics claimed that Allen's films since 1999's ''Sweet and Lowdown'' were subpar and expressed concern that Allen's best years were now behind him. Others have been less harsh; reviewing the little-liked ''Melinda and Melinda'', Roger Ebert wrote, "I cannot escape the suspicion that if Woody had never made a previous film, if each new one was Woody's Sundance debut, it would get a better reception. His reputation is not a dead shark but an albatross, which with admirable economy Allen has arranged for the critics to carry around their own necks." Woody gave his godson Quincy Rose a small part in ''Melinda and Melinda''. Allen was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. ''Match Point'' (2005) was one of Allen's most successful films of the decade, garnering very positive reviews. Set in London, it starred Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Scarlett Johansson. It is also markedly darker than Allen's first four films with DreamWorks SKG. In ''Match Point'', Allen shifts his focus from the intellectual upper class of New York to the moneyed upper class of London. It earned more than $23 million domestically (more than any of his films in nearly 20 years) and over $62 million in international box office sales. ''Match Point'' earned Allen his first Academy Award nomination since 1998, for Best Writing – Original Screenplay and also earned directing and writing nominations at the Golden Globes, his first Globe nominations since 1987. In an interview with ''Premiere Magazine'', Allen stated this was the best film he has ever made.

Allen returned to London to film ''Scoop'', which also starred Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally and Allen himself. The film was released on July 28, 2006, and received mixed reviews. He has also filmed ''Cassandra's Dream'' in London. ''Cassandra's Dream'' was released in November 2007, and stars Colin Farrell, Ewan McGregor and Tom Wilkinson.

After finishing his third London film, Allen headed to Spain. He reached an agreement to film ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' in Avilés, Barcelona and Oviedo, where shooting started on July 9, 2007. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz. Speaking of his experience there, Allen said: "I'm delighted at being able to work with Mediapro and make a film in Spain, a country which has become so special to me." ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona'' was well received, winning "Best Musical or Comedy" at the Golden Globe awards. Penélope Cruz received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

Allen has said that he "survives" on the European market. Audiences there have tended to be more receptive to Allen's films, particularly in Spain, France and Italy – countries where he has a large audience (something joked about in ''Hollywood Ending''). "In the United States things have changed a lot, and it's hard to make good small films now," Allen said in a 2004 interview. "The avaricious studios couldn't care less about good films – if they get a good film they're twice as happy but money-making films are their goal. They only want these $100 million pictures that make $500 million."

In April 2008, he began filming for a movie focused more towards older audiences starring Larry David, Patricia Clarkson and Evan Rachel Wood. Released in 2009, ''Whatever Works'', described as a dark comedy, follows the story of a botched suicide attempt turned messy love triangle. ''Whatever Works'' was written by Allen in the 1970s and the character now played by Larry David was originally written for Zero Mostel, who died the year ''Annie Hall'' came out.

2010s

''You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'', filmed in London, stars Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Kher, Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts. Filming started in July 2009. It was released theatrically in the US on September 23, 2010, following a Cannes debut in May 2010, and a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2010. Allen announced that his next film would be titled ''Midnight in Paris'', starring Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Gad Elmaleh and French First Lady Carla Bruni. The film followed a young engaged couple in Paris who see their lives transformed. It debuted at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 2011. Allen said he wanted to "show the city emotionally," during the press conference. "I just wanted it to be the way I saw Paris – Paris through my eyes," he added. ''Midnight in Paris'' has overthrown ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' as Allen's most successful film at the box office in the United States. It has also opened to much critical acclaim, and has been considered by many critics to mark his return to form. His next film, ''To Rome with Love'', is a Rome-set comedy slated for a 2012 release. The film will be structured in four different vignettes featuring dialogue in both Italian and English. The film will mark Allen's return to acting since his last role in ''Scoop''.

Future projects

For many years, Allen wanted to make a film about the origins of jazz in New Orleans. The film, tentatively titled ''American Blues'', would follow the vastly different careers of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet. Allen has stated that the film would cost between $80 and $100 million and is therefore unlikely to be made.

It was announced in February 2012 that Allen would adapt ''Bullets Over Broadway'' into a Broadway musical scheduled to open in 2013.

Distinction in the film world

Over the course of his career, Allen has received a considerable number of awards and distinctions in film festivals and yearly national film awards ceremonies, saluting his work as a director, screenwriter, and actor.

Allen's film ''Annie Hall'' won four Academy Awards in 1977, including Best Picture.

Allen won the 1978 O. Henry Award for his short story ''The Kugelmass Episode'', published in ''The New Yorker'' on May 2, 1977.

Allen twice won the César Award for Best Foreign Film, the first in 1980, for ''Manhattan'' and the second in 1986, for ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''. Seven other of his movies were nominated for the prize.

In 1986, Allen won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay for ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''. In 2009 he won the same award for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona''. In 2012, he won the Best Screenplay award for ''Midnight in Paris'' which was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Director and Best Actor (Comedy/musical) – ''Owen Wilson''. Overall, Allen has been nominated five times as Best Director, five times for Best Screenplay and twice for Best Actor (Comedy/musical).

At the 1995 Venice Film Festival, Allen received a Career Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.

In 1996, Allen received a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of America.

In 2002, Allen won the Prince of Asturias Award. Subsequently, the city of Oviedo, Spain, erected a life-size statue of Allen. In 2002, Allen received the ''Palme des Palmes'', a special lifetime achievement award granted by the Cannes Festival. In a 2005 UK poll ''The Comedian's Comedian'', Allen was voted the third greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

In June 2007, Allen received a PhD Honoris Causa from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain.

Academy Awards

Woody Allen has won 4 Academy Awards: three Best Original Screenplays (''Annie Hall'' (1978, shared with Marshall Brickman), ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1987) and ''Midnight in Paris'' (2012)), and one Best Director (''Annie Hall'' (1978)). Mr. Allen has been nominated a total of 23 times: 15 as a screenwriter, seven as a director, and once as an actor. He has more screenwriting Academy Award nominations than any other writer; all are in the Best Original Screenplay category. He is tied for third all-time with seven Best Director nominations.

''Annie Hall'' won four Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role – Diane Keaton). The film received a fifth nomination, for Allen as Best Actor in a Leading Role. ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' won three, for Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role categories; it was nominated in four other categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.

His actors have regularly received both nominations and Academy Awards for their work in Allen films, particularly in the Best Supporting categories: In 1987 Michael Caine and Diane Wiest won for ''Hannah and Her Sisters'', in 1995 Diane Wiest again won for ''Bullets Over Broadway'', in 1996 Mira Sorvino won for '' Mighty Aphrodite '', and in 2009 Penelope Cruz won for ''Vicky Cristina Barcelona.''

Despite friendly recognition from the Academy, Allen has consistently refused to attend the ceremony or acknowledge his Oscar wins. He broke this pattern only once. At the Academy Awards ceremony in 2002, Allen made an unannounced appearance, making a plea for producers to continue filming their movies in New York City after the 9-11 attacks, where he stated, "I didn't have to present anything. I didn't have to accept anything. I just had to talk about New York City." He was given a standing ovation before introducing a montage of movie clips featuring New York.

BAFTA

Allen has won a number of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards and nominations for best picture, best director, best actor, and best screenplay. In 1997, he received the honorary BAFTA Fellowship for his work.

1978 – Won – Best Film – ''Annie Hall''

1978 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Annie Hall'' (with Marshall Brickman)

1978 – Won – Best Direction – ''Annie Hall''

1980 – Won – Best Film – ''Manhattan''

1980 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Manhattan'' (with Marshall Brickman)

1985 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Broadway Danny Rose''

1986 – Won – Best Film – ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''

1986 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''The Purple Rose of Cairo''

1987 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Hannah and Her Sisters''

1987 – Won – Best Direction – ''Hannah and Her Sisters''

1993 – Won – Best Screenplay – ''Husbands and Wives''

2012 – Nominated – Best Screenplay – ''Midnight in Paris''

Nominated for best film for ''Hannah and Her Sisters'', ''Radio Days'', ''Crimes and Misdemeanors''.

Nominated for best actor for ''Annie Hall'', ''Manhattan'', ''Hannah and Her Sisters''.

Nominated for best director for ''Manhattan'', ''Crimes and Misdemeanors''.

Nominated for best screenplay for ''Zelig'', ''Radio Days'', ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'', and ''Bullets Over Broadway'' (with Douglas McGrath).

Theatre

Although best known for his films, Allen has also enjoyed a very successful career in theater, starting as early as 1960, when Allen wrote sketches for the revue ''From A to Z''. His first great success was ''Don't Drink the Water'', which opened in 1968, and ran for 598 performances for almost two years on Broadway. His success continued with ''Play it Again, Sam'', which opened in 1969, starring Allen and Diane Keaton. The show played for 453 performances and was nominated for three Tony Awards, although none of the nominations were for Allen's writing or acting.

In the 1970s, Allen wrote a number of one-act plays, most notably ''God'' and ''Death'', which were published in his 1975 collection ''Without Feathers''.

In 1981, Allen's play ''The Floating Light Bulb'' opened on Broadway. The play was a critical success but a commercial flop. Despite two Tony Award nominations, a Tony win for the acting of Brian Backer (who also won the 1981 Theater World Award and a Drama Desk Award for his work), the play only ran for 62 performances. , it is the last Allen work that ran on Broadway.

After a long hiatus from the stage, Allen returned to the theater in 1995, with the one-act ''Central Park West'', an installment in an evening of theater known as ''Death Defying Acts'' that was also made up of new work by David Mamet and Elaine May.

For the next couple of years, Allen had no direct involvement with the stage, yet notable productions of his work were being staged. A production of ''God'' was staged at The Bank of Brazil Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro, and theatrical adaptations of Allen's films ''Bullets Over Broadway'' and ''September'' were produced in Italy and France, respectively, without Allen's involvement. In 1997, rumors of Allen returning to the theater to write a starring role for his wife Soon-Yi Previn turned out to be false.

In 2003, Allen finally returned to the stage with ''Writer's Block'', an evening of two one-acts – ''Old Saybrook'' and ''Riverside Drive'' – that played Off-Broadway. The production marked the stage-directing debut for Allen. The production sold out its entire run.

Also that year, reports of Allen writing the book for a musical based on ''Bullets Over Broadway'' surfaced, but no show ever formulated. In 2004, Allen's first full-length play since 1981, ''A Second Hand Memory'', was directed by Allen and enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway.

In June 2007, it was announced that Allen would make two more creative debuts in the theater, directing a work that he did not write and directing an opera – a re-interpretation of Puccini's ''Gianni Schicchi'' for the Los Angeles Opera – which debuted at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on September 6, 2008. Commenting on his direction of the opera, Allen said, "I have no idea what I'm doing." His production of the opera opened the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, in June 2009.

In October 2011, Woody Allen's one-act play called ''Honeymoon Motel'' premiered as one in a series of one act plays on Broadway titled ''Relatively Speaking''. Also contributing to the plays are Elaine May and Ethan Coen with John Turturro directing.

Marriages and relationships

Harlene Rosen

At age 19, Allen married 16-year-old Harlene Rosen. The marriage lasted from 1954 to 1959. ''Time'' stated that the years were "nettling" and "unsettling."

Rosen, whom Allen referred to in his standup act as "the Dread Mrs. Allen," later sued Allen for defamation due to comments at a TV appearance shortly after their divorce. Allen tells a different story on his mid-1960s standup album ''Standup Comic.'' In his act, Allen said that Rosen sued him because of a joke he made in an interview. Rosen had been sexually assaulted outside her apartment and according to Allen, the newspapers reported that she "had been violated." In the interview, Allen said, "Knowing my ex-wife, it probably wasn't a moving violation." In a later interview on ''The Dick Cavett Show'', Allen brought the incident up again where he repeated his comments and stated that the amount that he was being sued for was "$1 million."

Louise Lasser

Allen married Louise Lasser in 1966. They divorced in 1969, and Allen did not marry again until 1997. Lasser appeared in three Allen films after the divorce – ''Take the Money and Run'', ''Bananas'', and ''Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'' – and made a brief appearance in ''Stardust Memories''.

Diane Keaton

In 1970, Allen cast Diane Keaton in his Broadway show, ''Play It Again, Sam.'' During the run she and Allen became romantically involved and although they broke up after a year, she continued to star in a number of his films, including ''Sleeper'' as a futuristic poet and ''Love and Death'' as a composite character based on the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. ''Annie Hall'' was very important in Allen and Keaton's careers. It is said that the role was written specifically for her as Diane Keaton's given name is Diane Hall. She then starred in ''Interiors'' as a poet, followed by ''Manhattan''. In 1987, she had a cameo as a night-club singer in ''Radio Days'' and was chosen to replace Mia Farrow in the co-starring role for ''Manhattan Murder Mystery'' after Allen and Farrow began having troubles with their personal and working relationship while making this film. Keaton has not worked with Allen since ''Manhattan Murder Mystery.'' Since the end of their romantic relationship, Keaton and Allen have remained close friends.

Stacey Nelkin

The film ''Manhattan'' is said by the Los Angeles Times to be widely known to have been based on his romantic relationship with the actress Stacey Nelkin. Her bit part in ''Annie Hall'' ended up on the cutting room floor, and their relationship, though never publicly acknowledged by Allen, reportedly began when she was 17 years old and a student at New York's Stuyvesant High School.

Mia Farrow

Around 1980, Allen began a relationship with actress Mia Farrow, who had leading roles in several of his movies from 1982 to 1992. Farrow and Allen never married and kept separate homes but they adopted two children, Dylan Farrow (who changed her name to Eliza and is now known as Malone) and Moshe Farrow (now known as Moses); they also had one biological child, Satchel Farrow (now known as Ronan Seamus Farrow). Allen did not adopt any of Farrow's other family, including Soon-Yi Farrow Previn (the adopted daughter of Farrow and André Previn, now known as Soon-Yi Previn). Allen and Farrow separated in 1992, after Farrow discovered nude photographs that Allen had taken of a then 20-year-old Soon-Yi. In her autobiography, ''What Falls Away'' (New York: Doubleday, 1997), Farrow says that Allen admitted to a relationship with Soon-Yi.

After Allen and Farrow separated, a long public legal battle for the custody of their three children began. During the proceedings, Farrow alleged that Allen had sexually molested their adopted daughter Dylan, who was then seven years old. The judge eventually concluded that the sex abuse charges were inconclusive but called Allen's conduct with Soon-Yi "grossly inappropriate." She called the report of the team that investigated the issue "sanitized and therefore, less credible" and added that she had "reservations about the reliability of the report." Farrow won custody of their children. Allen was denied visitation rights with Malone and could see Ronan only under supervision. Moses, who was then 14, chose not to see Allen.

In a 2005 ''Vanity Fair'' interview, Allen estimated that, despite the scandal's damage to his reputation, Farrow's discovery of Allen's attraction to Soon-Yi Previn by finding nude photographs of her was "just one of the fortuitous events, one of the great pieces of luck in my life. . . It was a turning point for the better." Of his relationship with Farrow, he said, "I'm sure there are things that I might have done differently. . . Probably in retrospect I should have bowed out of that relationship much earlier than I did." In a report June 22, 2011, Reuters quoted Allen as saying, "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."

Soon-Yi Previn

After ending his relationship with Mia Farrow in 1992, Allen continued his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn. Even though Allen never married Mia Farrow and was never Previn's legal stepfather, the relationship between Allen and Previn has often been referred to as a father involved romantically with his stepdaughter since he had been perceived as being in Previn's life in a father-like capacity. For example, in 1991, ''The New York Times'' described Allen's family life by reporting, "Few married couples seem more married. They are constantly in touch with each other, and not many fathers spend as much time with their children as Allen does." Despite assertions from Previn that Allen was never a father figure to her, the relationship became a scandal. In 1991, when the relationship started, Allen was 56 and Previn was 21. Asked whether their age difference was conducive to "a healthy, equal relationship," Allen said equality is not necessarily a requirement in a relationship and said, "The heart wants what it wants. There's no logic to those things. You meet someone and you fall in love and that's that."

Allen and Previn married on December 24, 1997, in the Palazzo Cavalli in Venice. The couple have adopted two daughters, naming them Bechet and Manzie Tio after jazz musicians Sidney Bechet, Manzie Johnson and Lorenzo Tio, Jr.

Allen and Farrow's biological son, Ronan Seamus Farrow, is widely quoted, without source or date, as disparaging Allen and having said he cannot see him.

Clarinetist

thumb|250px|Woody Allen with Jerry Zigmont and Simon Wettenhall performing at Vienne Jazz Festival, [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne, France, September 20, 2003]] Allen is a passionate fan of jazz, which is often featured prominently in the soundtracks to his films. He began playing as a child and took his stage name from clarinetist Woody Herman. He has performed publicly at least since the late 1960s, notably with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the soundtrack of ''Sleeper''. One of his earliest televised performances was on ''The Dick Cavett Show'' on October 20, 1971.

Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band have been playing each Monday evening at Manhattan's Carlyle Hotel for many years (as of 2011, specializing in classic New Orleans jazz from the early twentieth century). The documentary film ''Wild Man Blues'' (directed by Barbara Kopple) documents a 1996 European tour by Allen and his band, as well as his relationship with Previn. The band has released two CDs: ''The Bunk Project'' (1993) and the soundtrack of ''Wild Man Blues'' (1997).

Allen and his band played the Montreal Jazz Festival on two consecutive nights in June 2008.

Significant works about Woody Allen

Apart from ''Wild Man Blues'', directed by Barbara Kopple, there are a number of other documentaries featuring Woody Allen, including the 2002 cable-television documentary ''Woody Allen: a Life in Film'', directed by ''Time'' film critic Richard Schickel, which interlaces interviews of Allen with clips of his films, and ''Meetin' WA'', a short interview of Allen by French director Jean-Luc Godard. In 2011 the PBS series American Masters co-produced a comprehensive documentary about him, ''Woody Allen: a Documentary'' directed by Robert B. Weide.

From 1976 to 1984, Stuart Hample wrote and drew ''Inside Woody Allen'', a comic strip based on Allen's film persona.

Psychoanalysis

Allen spent over 37 years undergoing psychoanalysis. Many of his films contain references to psychoanalysis. Even the film ''Antz'', an animated feature in which Allen contributes the voice of lead character Z, opens with a classic piece of Allen analysis shtick.

''Moment Magazine'' says, "It drove his self-absorbed work." John Baxter, author of ''Woody Allen – A Biography'', wrote, "Allen obviously found analysis stimulating, even exciting."

Allen says he ended his psychoanalysis visits around the time he began his relationship with Previn. He says he still is claustrophobic and agoraphobic.

Filmography

Allen's films span six decades, starting with 1965's ''What's New Pussycat?''. He has written, directed, and starred in many of them, including films such as ''Annie Hall'' (1977), ''Hannah and Her Sisters'' (1986), and ''Husbands and Wives'' (1992), all of which earned major awards. Originally known for his comedies, his early successes were followed by his first purely dramatic work, ''Interiors (1978).

Theatre works

In addition to directing, writing, and acting in films, Allen has written and performed in a number of Broadway theater productions.

{|class="wikitable" |- ! style="width:33px;"| Year ! Title ! Credit ! Venue |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1960 | ''From A to Z'' | Writer (book) | style="text-align:center;"|Plymouth Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"|1966 | ''Don't Drink the Water'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Coconut Grove Playhouse, Florida |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1969 | ''Play It Again, Sam'' | Writer, Performer (Allan Felix) | style="text-align:center;"|Broadhurst Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1975 | ''God'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|— |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1975 | ''Death'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|— |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1981 | ''The Floating Light Bulb'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Vivian Beaumont Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"| 1995 | ''Central Park West'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Variety Arts Theatre |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2003 | ''Old Saybrook'' | Writer, Director | style="text-align:center;"|Atlantic Theatre Company |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2003 | ''Riverside Drive'' | Writer, Director | style="text-align:center;"|Atlantic Theatre Company |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2004 | ''A Second Hand Memory'' | Writer, Director | style="text-align:center;"|Atlantic Theater Company |- | style="text-align:center;"| 2011 | ''Honeymoon Motel'' | Writer | style="text-align:center;"|Brooks Atkinson Theatre |}

Bibliography

Published plays

''Don't Drink the Water: A comedy in two acts'' (1967), ASIN B0006BSWBW

''Play It Again, Sam'' (1969), ISBN 0-394-40663-X

''God: A comedy in one act'' (1975), ISBN 0-573-62201-9

''The Floating Light Bulb'' (1981)

''Three One-Act Plays: Riverside Drive / Old Saybrook / Central Park West'' (2003), ISBN 0-8129-7244-9

''Writer's Block: Two One-Act Plays'' (2005), ISBN 0-573-62630-8 (includes ''Riverside Drive'' and ''Old Saybrook'')

''A Second Hand Memory: A drama in two acts'' (2005)

The one-act plays ''God'' and ''Death'' are both included in Allen's 1975 collection ''Without Feathers'' (see below).

Short stories

''Getting Even'' (1971), ISBN 0-394-47348-5

''Without Feathers'' (1975), ISBN 0-394-49743-0

"The Whore of Mensa" (1974)

''Side Effects'' (1980), ISBN 0-394-51104-2

''Mere Anarchy'' (2007), ISBN 978-1-4000-6641-4

Anthologies

''Complete Prose of Woody Allen'' (1992), ISBN 0-517-07229-7. (Collection of Allen's short stories first published in ''Getting Even'', ''Without Feathers'' ''and Side Effects''.)

''The Insanity Defense: The Complete Prose''. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8129-7811-7.

Chapbook

''Lunatic's Tale'' (1986), ISBN 1-55628-001-7 (Short story previously included in ''Side Effects''.)

See also

Woody Allen filmography

List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen

Cinema of the United States

References

Further reading

Stardust Memories: Visiting Woody Michael Žantovský recalls a memorable meeting between two giants, Woody Allen and Václav Havel

Essay by Victoria Loy on Woody Allen's career

''The Essential Woody Allen''; Lauren Hill

''Fun With Woody, The Complete Woody Allen Quiz Book (Henry Holt)'', Graham Flashner

''The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity Industrial Complex'' by Maureen Orth p233 ISBN 0-8050-7545-3

''Woody Allen – A Biography''; John Baxter (1999) ISBN 0-7867-0666-X

''Woody Allen: Conversations with Filmmakers Series'', ed. R. E. Kapsis and K. Coblentz, (2006) ISBN 1-57806-793-6

''Woody Allen''; Stephan Reimertz, (rororo-Monographie), Reinbek (2005) ISBN 3-499-50410-3 (in German)

''Woody Allen: Eine Biographie''; Stephan Reimertz, Reinbek (2000) ISBN 3-499-61145-7 (in German)

''Woody Allen On Location'', by Thierry de Navacelle (Morrow, 1987); a day-to-day account of the making of ''Radio Days'' (1987)

''Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman'' (1995), ISBN 0-8021-1556-X

''Woody Allen: Profane and Sacred''; Richard A. Blake (1995) ISBN 978-0-8108-2993-0

External links

The Official Site of Woody Allen

in 2009

Category:1935 births Category:20th-century actors Category:Actors from New York City Category:American atheists Category:American Dixieland revivalists Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American jazz clarinetists Category:American screenwriters Category:American short story writers Category:American stand-up comedians Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:César Award winners Category:Dixieland revivalist clarinetists Category:English-language film directors Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Film theorists Category:Independent Spirit Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish atheists Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:Jewish dramatists and playwrights Category:Living people Category:O. Henry Award winners Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners

ar:وودي آلن an:Woody Allen ast:Woody Allen az:Vudi Allen bn:উডি অ্যালেন be:Вудзі Ален be-x-old:Вудзі Ален bg:Уди Алън bs:Woody Allen br:Woody Allen ca:Woody Allen cs:Woody Allen cy:Woody Allen da:Woody Allen de:Woody Allen et:Woody Allen el:Γούντι Άλεν es:Woody Allen eo:Woody Allen eu:Woody Allen fa:وودی آلن fr:Woody Allen fy:Woody Allen ga:Woody Allen gl:Woody Allen xal:Вуди Аллен ko:우디 앨런 hi:वुडी एलन hr:Woody Allen io:Woody Allen id:Woody Allen is:Woody Allen it:Woody Allen he:וודי אלן kn:ವುಡಿ ಅಲೆನ್‌ ka:ვუდი ალენი la:Woody Allen lv:Vudijs Allens lt:Woody Allen hu:Woody Allen mk:Вуди Ален ml:വൂഡി അലെൻ mr:वूडी ऍलन nl:Woody Allen ja:ウディ・アレン no:Woody Allen nn:Woody Allen oc:Woody Allen pl:Woody Allen pt:Woody Allen ro:Woody Allen qu:Woody Allen ru:Аллен, Вуди sq:Woody Allen scn:Woody Allen simple:Woody Allen sk:Woody Allen sl:Woody Allen szl:Woody Allen sr:Вуди Ален sh:Woody Allen fi:Woody Allen sv:Woody Allen tl:Woody Allen ta:வுடி ஆலன் th:วูดดี อัลเลน tr:Woody Allen uk:Вуді Аллен za:Woody Allen vi:Woody Allen yi:וואדי עלען yo:Woody Allen zh:伍迪·艾伦