Soon-Yi Previn

Soon-Yi Previn
Previn in 2009
Born
Oh Soon-hee

c.  (1970-10-08) October 8, 1970
Seoul, South Korea
Alma mater
Notable credit
Spouse
​
(m. 1997)​
Children2
Parents
Korean name
Hangul
오순희
RRO Sunhui
MRO Sunhŭi

Soon-Yi Previn (/ˈprɛvɪn/; born Oh Soon-hee, Korean: 오순희; c. October 8, 1970) is the wife of filmmaker Woody Allen and the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow and musician André Previn. Soon-Yi Previn's romantic relationship with Allen created public controversy when it became known in 1992; Allen had been the long-term partner of Previn's adoptive mother, Mia Farrow. Previn married Allen in 1997.

Early life, education, and career

As a child, Soon-Yi Previn (previously named Oh Soon–hee) was reportedly found abandoned in Seoul, South Korea, on February 12, 1976.[1] At that time, she was unable to speak intelligibly.[2] She was temporarily placed in Maria's House, a local institution. When authorities failed to locate her parents or relatives, they placed her in St. Paul's Orphanage. The Seoul Family Court established a Family Census Register (legal birth document) on her behalf on December 28, 1976, giving her a birth date of October 8, 1970. Her actual birth date is unknown.[1][2][3] Previn has said that as a young child, she lived on the streets and obtained food from trash cans.[3]

In 1978, Mia Farrow and her then-husband, André Previn, adopted Previn and took her to the United States.[4] At the time, U.S. law allowed two visas per family for international adoption, and the couple had already adopted Vietnamese infants Lark Song Previn and Summer "Daisy" Song Previn.[5] Farrow asked her friends Rose and William Styron to request that U.S. Representative Michael J. Harrington sponsor a private bill to authorize Previn's adoption. This bill, HR 1552, was passed as Private Law 95-37 on May 15, 1978, paving Previn's way to immigrate to the United States.[6][7]

Just after the adoption, Farrow wrote to Nancy Sinatra about Previn, saying, "Now she speaks English and is learning to read, write, play piano, dance ballet & ride a horse".[8] Farrow later said that at the time of her adoption, Previn had learning disabilities.[2][4] Rose Styron is Previn's godmother.[2]

Farrow's marriage to André Previn ended in 1979. In 1980, Farrow began a long-term relationship with filmmaker Woody Allen.[9] Allen later adopted two of Farrow's adopted children: Dylan Farrow and Moses Farrow. Allen's adoption of Dylan and Moses was finalized on December 17, 1991.[10] Farrow and Allen also became the biological parents of a son, Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow (later known simply as Ronan Farrow),[11] on December 19, 1987.[12]

Previn graduated from Marymount School of New York in 1991. After a summer as a sales associate at Bergdorf Goodman, she began her freshman year as a commuter student at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, in September 1991.[3] Previn graduated from Drew in 1995 and earned a master's degree in special education from Columbia University in 1998.[13][14] She has taught fourth grade at the Spence School, a private school in Manhattan.[13]

In 1992, Previn said that Farrow had physically abused her.[15]

Acting

During her teens, Previn made an uncredited appearance in Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), which starred Farrow. She appeared as an extra in Paul Mazursky's 1991 film Scenes from a Mall,[2] which starred Allen. She also appeared alongside Allen in the documentary Wild Man Blues (1997).[16]

Personal life

Previn has said that Woody Allen "was never any kind of father figure [to her]" and that she "never had any dealings with him" during her childhood, when Allen was dating Mia Farrow.[15] A judicial investigation carried out during the custody trial between Farrow and Allen determined that before 1990, Previn and Allen had rarely spoken to each other.[17] According to Previn, her first friendly interaction with Allen took place when she was injured playing soccer during 11th grade (1989-1990) and Allen offered to transport her to school. Following her injury, in 1990, Previn began attending New York Knicks basketball games with Allen.[3] A judicial investigation from the Farrow-Allen custody trial concluded that Allen and Previn began a sexual relationship in December 1991.[17] As Allen and Farrow had never married, and as Allen had never adopted Previn, their relationship was not illegal.[18]

In January 1992, Farrow found nude photographs of Previn in Allen's home. Allen, then 56, told Farrow that he had taken the photos the day before, about two weeks after he and Previn first had sex.[19] At the time, Previn was a first-year student at Drew University.[2] Farrow said she broke off her relationship with Allen in 1992 upon discovering his affair with Previn.[2][20] Previn and Allen initially contended that Allen and Farrow were no longer together when Farrow discovered the photos of Previn.[15] Allen later said that at the time his relationship with Previn began, he was "still in some version of a relationship with" Farrow but that they were just "going through the motions".[21]

Allen has called his relationship with Previn a "fling" that developed into a more significant relationship.[22] In a 2018 interview, Previn said, "From the first kiss I was a goner and loved him".[3] On August 17, 1992, Allen issued a public statement that he was in love with Previn.[23] Previn was surprised by his declaration: "I only knew that he loved me when he gave the press conference and said it publicly. Even then, I wasn't sure if he meant it. We had never said those words to each other".[3]

Previn's relationship with Allen became a "huge scandal".[24][25][26] Their relationship was a catalyst for "tabloid headlines and late-night monologues in August 1992", in part due to the allegation that Allen had sexually abused Previn's adoptive sister, Dylan Farrow.[27]

Previn and Allen married in Venice on December 22, 1997; she was 27 and he was 62.[14] They have adopted two daughters together.[22][28] According to her longtime friends, Previn has devoted herself to being a wife and stay-at-home mother.[3] The Previn-Allen family resides on Manhattan's Upper East Side.[29][30]

As of 2021, Previn remained estranged from Mia Farrow.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b Multiple sources:
    • United States Congressional serial set. 1977.
    • Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1978.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Orth, Maureen. "Mia's Story". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merkin, Daphne (September 16, 2018). "Introducing Soon-Yi Previn [interview]". Vulture.com.
  4. ^ a b Callahan, Maureen (January 8, 2012). "The quiet victory of Mia & the kids Woody left behind". New York Post. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "Farrow's Children Speak Out as Family Turmoil Continues". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. August 21, 1992. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018.
  6. ^ Wypijewski, Joann (February 26, 2014). "Woody and Mia: A Modern Family Timeline". The Nation. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  7. ^ Harrington, Michael J. (May 15, 1978). "Actions - H.R.1552 - 95th Congress (1977-1978): An Act for the relief of Oh Soon Yi". www.congress.gov. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Corliss, Richard (August 31, 1992). "Woody Allen and Mia Farrow: Scenes From A Breakup". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  9. ^ Vultaggio, Maria (May 11, 2016). "Woody Allen Wife Soon-Yi And Their Bizarre History: Ronan Farrow Addresses Sex Abuse Allegations At Cannes". International Business Times. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  10. ^ Stern, Marlow (February 10, 2014). "Inside the Shocking Custody Case Court Documents that Shed Light on the Dylan Farrow-Woody Allen Saga". The Daily Beast.
  11. ^ Lax, Eric (February 24, 1991). "Woody and Mia: A New York Story". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "Son Born to Mia Farrow And Woody Allen". 'The New York Times. Associated Press. December 22, 1987. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Morrissey, Tracie Egan (February 10, 2014). "All Mia's Children: The Tangled Branches of the Farrow Family Tree". Jezebel. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi in Venice". CNN. December 24, 1997. Archived from the original on June 23, 2001. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c "Soon-Yi Speaks: 'Let's Not Get Hysterical'". Newsweek. August 30, 1992. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Wild Man Blues Movie Review & Film Summary (1998) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  17. ^ a b "ALLEN v. FARROW". Leagle. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  18. ^ Waterford, Jack (August 27, 1992). "Modern Reasons For Old Taboos on Incest". The Canberra Times. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  19. ^ Perez-Pena, Richard (March 23, 1993). "Nude Photographs Are Focus Of Woody Allen's Testimony". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018.
  20. ^ Tait, Robert (May 5, 2016). "Woody Allen 'immune' to criticism over affair with former partner's daughter". The Telegraph.
  21. ^ "Woody Allen details affair with Soon-Yi Previn, Mia Farrow finding the 'erotic photographs' in new memoir". uk.movies.yahoo.com. March 24, 2020.
  22. ^ a b Fragoso, Sam (July 29, 2015). "At 79, Woody Allen Says There's Still Time To Do His Best Work". NPR.
  23. ^ Weber, Bruce (August 18, 1992). "Public Disclosures From the Private Life of Woody Allen". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "Allen thanks his lucky stars for Soon-Yi". The Guardian. November 1, 2005.
  25. ^ Edelstein, David (March 30, 2012). "Mamma mia!". New York Magazine.
  26. ^ "Woody and Soon-Yi Adopt Second Baby". ABC News. August 24, 2000.
  27. ^ Klepp, L.S. (February 18, 2000). "The Unruly Life of Woody Allen". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  28. ^ Weide, Robert B. (January 27, 2014). "The Woody Allen Allegations: Not So Fast". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  29. ^ Thurman, Judith (September 21, 2016). "Tour Woody Allen's English Country-Style Manhattan Townhouse". Architectural Digest. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  30. ^ Kennedy, Dana (March 15, 2021). "Inside the mysterious lives of Woody Allen and Soon-Yi's daughters". news.com.au.
  31. ^ Fernández, Alexia (March 14, 2021). "Mia Farrow Says Woody Allen 'Weaponized' Soon-Yi Previn Against Her: 'I Love' Her". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
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