Mickey Rose Dies: Woody Allen’s Friend And Writing Partner Dead At 77


Mickey Rose, a friend and writing partner to Woody Allen, has died at age 77.

Rose had been born in Brooklyn on May 20, 1935 to a single mother, Sylvia Subin. Then known as Allen Konisberg, Rose met Woody Allen in a high school art class, often cutting class to go to a movie or watch the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Together they forged a friendship based off a mutual love of baseball, jazz, and movies.

“They were just very good friends with similar sensibilities, who laughed at the same things and loved to make each other laugh,” said Eric Lax, Allen’s biographer.

The two were in a jazz band together and enrolled at New York University, though Rose continued on to get his degree after Woody Allen dropped out.

They later expanded their friendship into a professional relationship, writing films together including the madcap comedies Bananas and Take the Money and Run.

But Mickey Rose had his own career beyond his work with Woody Allen. He also wrote for television shows, including crafting jokes and sketches for Johnny Carson and other top comedians of his era.

Mickey Rose ultimately stepped back from comedy writing in the 1980s as his jobs began to grow more scarce.

As Mickey Rose dies, Allen took the chance to look back at his lifelong friendship.

“Mickey was one of the funniest humans I know, a true original and a total eccentric and a wonderful first baseman,” Allen said in a statement his biographer released this week. “We played a lot of baseball together. Once, when I asked him what death meant to him he said, ‘no more malteds.’ ”

Allen had a profound effect on Rose’s life beyond friendship and creative endeavors. Woody arranged a blind date for Rose with another friend, Judy Wolf, who later became Mickey’s wife. She died in 2003 after being married to Mickey for 40 years.

Mickey Rose died at his home in Beverly Hills. He had been diagnosed with cancer in January, his family said.

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