This just in from the Mostly Unobserved Anniversaries Department — yesterday marked 20 years since the release of Manhattan Murder Mystery, Woody Allen’s cracklingly entertaining 1993 reunion with Diane Keaton. But that film also marked the film debut of one Zach Braff, who (circle of life) will star in Allen’s forthcoming Broadway musical adaptation of Bullets Over Broadway. Braff is just one of the many actors who got an early break in a Woody Allen movie; it’s a rite of passage for a young actor, and everyone from Sylvester Stallone to Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Larry David to Henry Cavill turned up in Allen films early in their careers. Here are some of the best appearances by actors in Woody movies, before they were famous:
CREDITS Edited by Jason Bailey Music by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
CLIPS (all films directed by Woody Allen) Bananas (1971) Annie Hall (1977) Stardust Memories (1980) Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Radio Days (1987) New York Stories (1989) Alice (1990) Shadows and Fog (1991) Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) Mighty Aphrodite (1995) Everyone Says I Love You (1996) Deconstructing Harry (1997) Celebrity (1998) Melinda and Melinda (2004) Whatever Works (2009) Midnight in Paris (2011)