Harlene Rosen Silent Struggles: Woody Allen’s first wife

Harlene Rosen got married to Woody Allen back in the late 1950s when he was beginning to build his career as a comedy writer. They were the focus of the comedy of Woody and he would constantly tease his wife which resulted in a defamation case. Rosen decided to lead a quiet life in the early 1960s after a bitter divorce with woody.

Key Takeaways

• Harlene Rosen and Woody Allen married during 1956 to 1962 and they did not have children.
• Fifty or so years later, Rosen squashed his beef with the filmmaker when he wished her a happy 80th birthday.
• Woody Allen is in his third marriage with Soon-Yi Previn who at one time is his stepdaughter in the 1980s when he had an affair with actress Mia Farrow.

Profile Summary

Attribute	Detail
Full name	Harlene Susan Rosen
Date of birth	~30 November 1939
Age (2025)	Around 85–86 years old
Nationality	American
Marital status	Divorced
Ex-husband	Woody Allen (1956–1962)
Profession	Pianist (especially during marriage), Music enthusiast
Known for	Woody Allen’s first wife; involvement in his early life & artistic leanings
Life in privacy	Has maintained a private life since divorce; stepped away from public eye
Net worth	Estimated $100,000

Harlene Rosen got married to Woody when she was a teenager.

In 1955, Harlene Rosen was asked out by Woody Allen, her teenage lover. The following year they got married in March 1956 she was still 16 years old and he was 20 years old.

Rosen and Woody also went on with their education as they stayed and worked in the Big Apple. The short Hollywood star mentioned their marriage as fine in an interview with NPR in July 2015, but noted that he did not do it because he was in full love.

It brought me out of the house of my parents and to New York City and reality. My wife was a good intelligent lady.

Harlene Rosen was the target of the jokes of Woody

The marriage between the former couple collapsed due, in part, to the stand-up comedian ridiculing Harlene Rosen in his club acts, and on TV. He used to call her Quasimondo when referring to the relationship they had, and this did not go well with his former wife.

In 1967, Harlene sued Woody Allen and NBC on libel of character due to his character disparagement during the Tonight Show. A temporary cease and desist order were granted against him in her favor, which was settled the early seventies.

The marriage of Allen and Harlene became rough early on

In his November 1963 stand-up comedy on The Steve Allen Show, Woody unveiled that he and his wife had a miserable marriage. He claimed that they thought of divorcing at a tender age, but the New York divorce procedures did not favour their case.

My marriage was bad, and it was partly my fault. During the initial year of marriage, I was in poor basic attitude towards my wife. I was inclined to put my wife under the pedestal at all the time, and we would quarrel and have arguments.

Jack Victor, a friend of Allen in his 2015 book, Woody: The Biography, stated that the former couple did not have any honeymoon. They were both young and they realised they had gone wrong.

Wood was writing frequently to me at California, particularly at the honeymoon. I could tell that it was no longer a honeymoon. Things went wrong; it was just plain wrong.

Harlene dropped her beef with Woody more than 50 years later

In November 2015, Harlene pre-addressed biographer David Evanier to her ex-husband. It is a message to feature in his book, Woody: The Biography, before the 80th birthday of the film maker. It read:

Wondrous Woody, you had to give me your massive energy, creativity and charisma… We got married after our teenage love in summer… You established a career. I have had four years of college. We helped one another, and realized the life and grew up. It was sorrow, wept, laughed and loved.

Allen paid Harlene less than $100 alimony

In 1959, when he was married to Harlene about 3 years they parted way. Their divorce was finalized in November 1962. The movie star was directed to make Harlene his spousal support of $75 per week and up to 175 per week in case he secured a regular job until she remarried.

Prior to his withdrawal in New York University to become a full-time comedian, Woody was earning a salary of $25 per week. According to Time Magazine, his then-married salary was approximately 1500 a week.

The 1960s saw Allen on an uphill career with such successful projects as What’s New Pussycat? and What’s Up, Tiger Lily? By late 1960s he was earning about 250,000 annually, though it is not clear whether he raised the volume of alimony he was giving to Rosen.

Woody divorced Rosen and married Louise Lasser

The Annie Hall creator got married in February 1966 to the second wife Louise Lasser. She featured in some of his films such as What’s Up, Tiger Lily? (1966), Take the Money and Run (1969) and Bananas (1971).

Almost four years later in January 1970, Allen Woody and Louise gave up on their marriage. They worked together, even after they divorced.

The controversial marriage of Woody Allen to his stepdaughter

The author of the Midnight in Paris began dating actress Mia Farrow in 1980 and they were in a relationship till early 1992, yet he never married her. They had five children together, including son Ronan Farrow in 1987 and daughter Dylan O Sullivan and son Moses Farrow who they adopted.

When Mia started seeing Woody, she had seven other children (adopted and biological), such as Soon-Yi Previn. The actress separated with the filmmaker after finding out the useless photos of her adopted daughter that was 21 years old, Soon-Yi Previn, around his house.

In December 1997, Woody Allen, who was 62 years old by that time, married his stepdaughter, Previn, who is 36 years his junior. The family resides in New York City having two adopted daughters Bechet Allen and Manzie Allen.

In September 2018, his spouse Soon-Yi came to the defense of Woody Allen concerning claims of abuse. During a rare interview in New York magazines, she has criticized her adoptive mother Mia Farrow, when she speaks of the mother to daughter relationship.

Conclusion

Little is known of Harlene Rosen nowadays. Her former husband, Woody, remains married to Previn and has indicated his retirement after nearly 70 years in the show business.

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