Written by Lindsay Barr
Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress for “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather” films, and “Father of the Bride,” has died. Her quirky, lively demeanor and depth made her one of the most singular actors of her generation. She was 79 years old.
People magazine reported on Saturday that she died in California with loved ones by her side, citing a family spokesperson. No other details were immediately available, and a representative for Keaton did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press.
The unexpected news shocked the world.
Bette Midler said in an Instagram post, “She was hilarious, completely original, and had none of the malice or competitiveness you would expect from a star like this. What you saw was who she was…oh, la, la!” She and Keaton co-starred in “The First Wives Club.”
Keaton was an actor who helped make the film iconic and timeless, from the line “la dee da, la dee da” as Annie Hall, decked out in a tie, bowler hat, vest, and khakis, to her heartbreaking role as Kay Adams, a woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family.
Many of her star-making performances in the 1970s were in Woody Allen films, but that was no flash in the pan, and thanks to her long-standing collaboration with filmmaker Nancy Meyers, she would continue to enchant new generations for decades to come.
She played a businessman who unexpectedly inherits an infant in Baby Boom, the mother of the bride in the popular remake of Father of the Bride, a newly single woman in The First Wives Club, and a divorced playwright who becomes involved with Jack Nicholson’s music executive in Something’s Gotta Give.
Keaton won her first Oscar for Annie Hall and was nominated three more times for her role as journalist and suffragist Louise Bryant in Reds, in Marvin’s Room in which she played a caregiver who suddenly needs to care for herself, and in Something’s Gotta Give in which she played a middle-aged divorcee who becomes the object of the affections of multiple men.
In true Keaton fashion, when she won her Oscar in 1978, she laughed and said: “This is something.”
Hollywood star breaks out in New York
Keaton was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles in January 1946, but her family was not part of the film industry she would find herself in. Her mother was a housewife and photographer, and her father worked in real estate and civil engineering, both of which gave her a love of art from fashion to architecture.
Keaton was drawn to theater and singing as a student in Santa Ana, California, and dropped out of college after a year to pursue a career in Manhattan. Actor’s Equity already had Diane Hall, who adopted her mother’s maiden name, Keaton, as her own.
She studied with Sanford Meisner in New York, and credits him with giving her “the freedom to depict the complex areas of human behavior in a safe and guided manner. It made playing with fire fun.”
“More than anything, Sanford Meisner helped me understand the dark side of my actions,” she wrote in her 2012 memoir, “Then Again.” “I have always had a talent for sensing it, but I have not yet had the courage to step into such dangerous and bright territory.”
She began appearing on stage as an understudy in Broadway’s Hair, and in 1968 was nominated for a Tony Award for her role in Allen’s Play Again, Sam. Still, she remained deeply self-conscious about her appearance and struggled with bulimia in her 20s.
“The Godfather” and Woody Allen made him a star
Keaton made his film debut in the 1970 romantic comedy “The Godfather,” but his breakthrough came a few years later when he starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” which won Best Picture and became one of the most beloved films of all time. Still, even she was hesitant to return for the sequel, but made a different decision after reading the script.
Although she enjoyed the memories of co-starring with Al Pacino, she summed up the role of Kay, a role that has nothing to do with her.
The 1970s were an incredibly fruitful time for Keaton, in part due to his continued collaboration with Allen in both comedy and drama roles. She appeared in “Sleeper,” “Love and Death,” “Interior,” “Manhattan,” and the film version of “Play Again, Sam.” The 1977 crime drama “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” also earned her rave reviews.
Allen and the late Marshall Brickman gave Keaton one of her most iconic roles, “Annie Hall.” A contagious woman from Chippewa Falls that Allen played by Alvy Singer can’t get over. The film is considered one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, centering around Keaton’s eccentric and self-deprecating Annie.
New York Times critic Vincent Canby wrote, “As Annie Hall, Miss Keaton emerges as Woody Allen’s Liv Ullmann. His camera somehow finds sources of beauty and emotion that elude other directors. Her Annie Hall is a wonderful madman.”
Although she acknowledged the similarities between Annie Hall and real life, she downplayed them.
“My last name is Hall. According to me, Woody and I certainly shared a significant romance,” she wrote. “I wanted to be a singer. I lacked confidence and was fumbling for words.”
Keaton and Allen were romantically involved from around 1968, when she met Keaton while auditioning for one of Keaton’s plays, until around 1974. The two remained collaborators and friends ever since. He then appeared in “Radio Days” in 1987 and “Manhattan Murder Mystery” in 1993.
“He was very fashionable, with his thick glasses and cool suit,” Keaton wrote in his memoirs. “But what bothered me was his demeanor, body language, hands, coughing, and the self-deprecating way he told jokes.”
She also had romantic relationships with Pacino, who played her husband in The Godfather, and Warren Beatty, who directed her and co-starred with her in Reds. She never married, but adopted two children, a daughter, Dexter, and a son, Duke, when she was in her fifties.
“I decided that the only way to realize my wildest dream of becoming a real Broadway musical comedy star was to continue to be a sweet girl, putting loving a man and being a wife aside,” she wrote in her memoir.
“The names changed from Dave to Woody to Warren and finally Al. Could I have made a lasting commitment to them? It’s hard to say. Subconsciously, I must have known it wasn’t going to work out, so they would never stand in the way of realizing my dreams.”
When Keaton met Nancy Meyers
Not all of Keaton’s roles were home runs, such as his action role in George Roy Hill’s John le Carre’s The Little Drummer Girl. But in 1987, she resumed her long-standing collaboration with Nancy Meyers, resulting in four beloved films. Charles Scheyer’s first film, Baby Boom, may have received mixed reviews at the time, but Pauline Kael went so far as to describe Keaton’s work as “a brilliant comedic performance that overcomes many voids.”
Their next team-up will be a remake of Father of the Bride, directed by Scheyer and co-written with Meyers. She and Steve Martin played the bride’s panicked parents, and it was a huge hit, prompting a sequel.
In 2003, Meyers directed her in the romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give, in which she begins a relationship with a playboy womanizer played by Jack Nicholson, but is also pursued by a young doctor played by Keanu Reeves. Her character, Erica Barry, with her beautiful Hamptons home and ivory outfits, was a key inspiration for recent coastal grandma fashion trends. This was her last Oscar nomination, and she would later call it her favorite film.
She also directed occasionally, with work including episodes of Twin Peaks, music videos for Belinda Carlyle, and the sister drama Hanging Up, co-written by Nolan Apron and Delia Ephron, in which she co-starred with Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow.
Keaton continued to work steadily throughout the 2000s, playing a dying matriarch who doesn’t want to give her son a ring in The Family Stone, a morning newscaster in Morning Glory, and a notable role in The Book Club.
She has also written several books, including the memoirs “Then Again” and “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty,” and the art and design book “The House that Pinterest Built.”
Keaton received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, but told The Associated Press at the time that it was a surreal experience.
“This feels like a wedding I’ve never been to, a big gathering I’ve never been to, a retirement party I’ve never been to, or all these things I’ve always avoided – big parties,” she said. “This is a really big deal for me and I’m really grateful.”
In 2022, she “solidified” her legacy with a handprint and footprint ceremony outside the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, with children watching.
“I don’t think about my film legacy,” she said at the event. “I’m really lucky to be here in any way, shape or form. I’m just lucky. I don’t see myself as anything other than that.”
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Associated Press national writer Hillel Italy in New York contributed.
First Published: October 11, 2025 4:00pm EDT
