At the end of “Annie Hall,” Woody Allen’s character Alvy says love is “totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd,” but “we keep goin’ through it.” So, too, did its star, Diane Keaton, who died at age 79 on Oct. 11, People and The New York Times reported.
The Oscar winner − who grew up in Los Angeles before getting her start on Broadway in “Hair” and transitioned to film with “Lovers and Other Strangers” before being cast in iconic films as wide-ranging as “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather” and “Something’s Gotta Give” − never married, but had several high-profile Hollywood relationships.
Woody Allen leans his head on Diane Keaton’s shoulder in “Love and Death,” circa 1975.
Diane Keaton met Woody Allen during an audition
Keaton started dating Woody Allen in the late 1960s, when she starred in his Broadway show, “Play it Again, Sam.” The perennially shy actress said working with him on his comedic films helped her relax and feel more comfortable.
Though their relationship didn’t last, she remained his supporter for decades after he faced sexual abuse allegations. (In 2018, she tweeted, “Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him.”)
They costarred in eight films, but it was “Annie Hall” that won Keaton an Academy Award for best actress.
Al Pacino caught Diane Keaton’s eye from the start
Keaton was cast before Pacino for “The Godfather,” and they met during a screen test for first film in the trilogy. Director Francis Ford Coppola asked her after, “What do you think of Al?” and, as Keaton recalled to “Interview,” she replied, “I think he’s great.” But their relationship didn’t take off until they starred in “The Godfather Part II,” and they stayed together for 15 years.
“I was mad for him,” the actress told People. “Charming, hilarious, a nonstop talker. There was an aspect of him that was like a lost orphanage … and oh, gorgeous.”
After the split − she said in a CBS interview that he was more of a serious actor, who liked to read Shakespeare together at night − they didn’t remain close. But at Keaton’s 2017 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award ceremony, Pacino took the stage saying, “Hi, Di, good seeing you, I like your hat,” and went on to declare, “You’re a great artist. … I love you forever.” And in a 2021 interview highlighting questions from her closest friends, she told him, “I was in love with you. You couldn’t be more magical and entertaining and unique and all those things wrapped into one.”
She was Warren Beatty’s on- and off-screen love
Keaton began dating Warren Beatty when they filmed “Reds” in 1981. He was her costar and director, and their relationship continued long after filming ended, lasting five years.
“The first time I saw Warren was in ‘Splendor in the Grass’ ” in 1961, Keaton told Variety in 2016. “He was, I mean, to die for. A dream. … Not only was he beautiful, gorgeous and sexy and captivating and mysterious and a great movie star, but he was also an unbelievable producer and director.”
From the Oscars to the Globes, a look back at Diane Keaton’s career achievements
1 of 8
She won her Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy for “Something’s Gotta Give” on Jan. 25, 2004.
After the relationship ended, they maintained their respect for each other. In 2016, Beatty told People, ““She’s a combination of integrity and humor and intelligence and fairness and, did I say beauty? A brilliant comedic sense.”
Diane Keaton became a mom at age 50
Keaton adopted her two children − daughter Dexter, followed by son Duke − in her 50s. She often credited her mother’s sacrifices as a stay-at-home mom as a reason for her own decision to remain single, saying she didn’t want to “compromise too much.”
In her 2020 memoir, “Brother & Sister,” she wrote: “I wanted to be a movie star. I wanted people – lots of people I didn’t know – to love me.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diane Keaton found love with Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, Al Pacino