Alvy Singer
A neurotic, Jewish comedian from New York, somewhat like the actor that portrays him. Woody Allen always played a signature type in his movies and Alvy fits that sexually obsessed nebbish type very well, but he also is invested with more autobiographical depth, thus lending him a dimension of personality that makes him quite different from the standard Woody Allen character in a Woody Allen movie.
Annie Hall
Alvy’s earthier, flightier, more grounded but equally neurotic girlfriend for most of the movie is played by his real-life girlfriend at the time, Diane Keaton. Not coincidentally, Keaton’s real last name is Hall. Annie Hall is a bundle of nervous energy with underlying anxiety that about not being smart enough for Alvy. She eventually gets past that worry.
Rob
Alvy’s best friend is less insecure and more accepting of the real world compromises that must be made in order to accommodate for ambition and success. He is far less resistant to the charge of being interested in shallow things than Alvy, thus paving the way for success in Hollywood.
Allison Portchnik
Alvy’s first wife, a Jewish woman from New York with whom he loses interest because simply because she is interested in him.
Robin
Wife number two for Alvy is almost the exact opposite of Allison and utterly unlike Annie. She is sophisticated to the point of pretension and aloof to the point of frigid.
Tony Lacy
The epitome of shallow for Alvy, Tony is a self-involved and self-important music producer who has set his eyes on Annie and is trying to get to her through the flattery of convincing her she can be a star.
Marshall McLuhan
Famous for coining the phrase “the medium is the message” and for playing himself in Annie Hall. McLuhan appears in a fantasy segment in which Alvy calls upon a weirdly available McLuhan to help prove that a loudly pretentious man waiting in line behind Alvy for a movie to start has no concept of what he’s talking about.
Pam
A tall, skeletal reporter on assignment for Rolling Stone magazine with whom Alvy has a one-night stand.
Grammy Hall
Annie’s grandmother, whom Alvy has decided is robustly anti-Semitic to the point of almost being Nazi in her hatred of Jews.
