{"id":296117,"date":"2025-10-12T01:56:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T01:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/296117\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T01:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T01:56:15","slug":"diane-keaton-oscar-winning-star-of-annie-hall-and-the-godfather-dies-at-79-reports-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/296117\/","title":{"rendered":"Diane Keaton, Oscar-winning star of \u2018Annie Hall\u2019 and \u2018The Godfather,\u2019 dies at 79, reports say"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013 Diane Keaton<\/a>, the Oscar-winning star of \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d<\/a> \u201cThe Godfather\u201d films and \u201cFather of the Bride,\u201d whose quirky, vibrant manner and depth made her one of the most singular actors of a generation, has died. She was 79.<\/p>\n

People Magazine reported Saturday that she died in California with loved ones, citing a family spokesperson. No other details were immediately available, and representatives for Keaton did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The unexpected news was met with shock<\/a> around the world. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was\u2026oh, la, lala!,\u201d Bette Midler said in a post on Instagram. She and Keaton co-starred in \u201cThe First Wives Club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonardo DiCaprio, who played her nephew in \u201cMarvin’s Room” when he was 18, wrote on Instagram that she was \u201cone of a kind. Brilliant, funny and unapologetically herself…she will be deeply missed.”<\/p>\n

Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her \u201cLa-dee-da, la-dee-da\u201d phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in that necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams,<\/a> the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family. <\/p>\n

Her star-making performances in the 1970s, many of which were in Woody Allen films, were not a flash in the pan either, and she would continue to charm new generations for decades thanks in part to a longstanding collaboration with filmmaker Nancy Meyers. <\/p>\n

She played a businessperson who unexpectedly inherits an infant in \u201cBaby Boom,\u201d the mother of the bride in the beloved remake of \u201cFather of the Bride,\u201d a newly single woman in \u201cThe First Wives Club,\u201d and a divorced playwright who gets involved with Jack Nicholson’s music executive in \u201cSomething’s Gotta Give.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keaton won her first Oscar for \u201cAnnie Hall\u201d and would go on to be nominated three more times, for \u201cReds,\u201d playing the journalist and suffragist Louise Bryant, \u201cMarvin’s Room,” as a caregiver who suddenly needs care herself, and \u201cSomething’s Gotta Give,” as a middle-aged divorcee who is the object of several men’s affections. <\/p>\n

In her very Keaton way, upon accepting her Oscar in 1978<\/a> she laughed and said, \u201cThis is something.\u201d<\/p>\n

A child of Hollywood breaks through in New York<\/p>\n

Keaton was born Diane Hall in January 1946 in Los Angeles, though her family was not part of the film industry she would find herself in. Her mother was a homemaker and photographer, and her father was in real estate and civil engineering, and both would inspire her love in the arts, from fashion to architecture.<\/p>\n

Keaton was drawn to theater and singing while in school in Santa Ana, California, and she dropped out of college after a year to make a go of it in Manhattan. Actors\u2019 Equity already had a Diane Hall in their ranks, and she took Keaton, her mother\u2019s maiden name, as her own.<\/p>\n

She studied under Sanford Meisner in New York and has credited him with giving her the freedom to \u201cchart the complex terrain of human behavior within the safety of his guidance. It made playing with fire fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than anything, Sanford Meisner helped me learn to appreciate the darker side of behavior,\u201d she wrote in her 2012 memoir, \u201cThen Again.\u201d \u201cI always had a knack for sensing it but not yet the courage to delve into such dangerous, illuminating territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

She started on the stage as an understudy in the Broadway production for \u201cHair,\u201d and in Allen\u2019 s \u201cPlay It Again, Sam\u201d in 1968, for which she would receive a Tony nomination. And yet she remained deeply self-conscious about her appearance and battled bulimia in her 20s. <\/p>\n

Becoming a star with \u201cThe Godfather\u201d and Woody Allen<\/p>\n

Keaton made her film debut in the 1970 romantic comedy \u201cLovers and Other Strangers,\u201d but her big breakthrough would come a few years later when she was cast in Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d which won best picture and become one of the most beloved films of all time. And yet even she hesitated to return for the sequel, though after reading the script she decided otherwise. <\/p>\n

She summed up her role as Kay, a role she never related to even though she savored memories of acting with Al Pacino.<\/p>\n

The 1970s were an incredibly fruitful time for Keaton thanks in part to her ongoing collaboration with Allen in both comedic and dramatic roles. She appeared in \u201cSleeper,\u201d \u201cLove and Death,\u201d \u201cInteriors,\u201d Manhattan,\u201d and the film version of \u201cPlay it Again, Sam.\u201d The 1977 crime-drama \u201cLooking for Mr. Goodbar\u201d also earned her raves.<\/p>\n

Allen and the late Marshall Brickman<\/a> gave Keaton one of her most iconic roles in \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d the infectious woman from Chippewa Falls whom Allen\u2019s Alvy Singer cannot get over. The film is considered one of the great romantic comedies of all time, with Keaton\u2019s eccentric, self-deprecating Annie at its heart. <\/p>\n

In the New York Times, critic Vincent Canby wrote, \u201cAs Annie Hall, Miss Keaton emerges as Woody Allen\u2019s Liv Ullman. His camera finds beauty and emotional resources that somehow escape the notice of other directors. Her Annie Hall is a marvelous nut.\u201d<\/p>\n

She acknowledged parallels between Annie Hall and real life, while also downplaying them. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy last name is Hall. Woody and I did share a significant romance, according to me, anyway,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI did want to be a singer. I was insecure, and I did grope for words.”<\/p>\n

Keaton and Allen were also in a romantic relationship, from about 1968, when she met him while auditioning for his play, until about 1974. Afterward they remained collaborators and friends. She later appeared in \u201cRadio Days,\u201d in 1987, and \u201cManhattan Murder Mystery,” in 1993. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so hip, with his thick glasses and cool suits,\u201d Keaton wrote in her memoir. \u201cBut it was his manner that got me, his way of gesturing, his hands, his coughing and looking down in a self-deprecating way while he told jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was also romantically linked to Pacino, who played her husband in \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d and Warren Beatty who directed her and whom she co-starred with in \u201cReds.\u201d She never married but did adopt two children when she was in her 50s: a daughter, Dexter, and a son, Duke. <\/p>\n

\u201cI figured the only way to realize my number-one dream of becoming an actual Broadway musical comedy star was to remain an adoring daughter. Loving a man, a man, and becoming a wife, would have to be put aside,\u201d she wrote in the memoir. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe names changed, from Dave to Woody, then Warren, and finally Al. Could I have made a lasting commitment to them? Hard to say. Subconsciously I must have known it could never work, and because of this they\u2019d never get in the way of achieving my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Keaton met Nancy Meyers<\/p>\n

Not all of Keaton\u2019s roles were home runs, like her foray into action in George Roy Hill\u2019s John le Carr\u00e9 adaptation of \u201cLittle Drummer Girl.\u201d But in 1987 she\u2019d begin another long-standing collaboration with Nancy Meyers, which would result in four beloved films. Reviews for that first outing, \u201cBaby Boom,\u201d directed by Charles Shyer, might have been mixed at the time but Pauline Kael even described Keaton\u2019s as a \u201cglorious comedy performance that rides over many of the inanities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their next team-up would be in the remake of \u201cFather of the Bride,\u201d which Shyer directed and co-wrote with Meyers. She and Steve Martin played the flustered parents to the bride which would become a big hit and spawn a sequel.<\/p>\n

In 2003, Meyers would direct her in \u201cSomething\u2019s Gotta Give,\u201d a romantic comedy in which she begins a relationship with a playboy womanizer, played by Jack Nicholson, while also being pursued by a younger doctor, played by Keanu Reeves. Her character Erica Barry, with her beautiful Hamptons home and ivory outfits was a key inspiration for the recent costal grandmother fashion trend. It earned her what would be her last Oscar nomination and, later, she\u2019d call it her favorite film.<\/p>\n

She also directed occasionally, with works including an episode of \u201cTwin Peaks,\u201d a Belinda Carlisle music video and the sister dramedy \u201cHanging Up,\u201d which Noran Epron and Delia Ephron co-wrote, and she starred in alongside Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow.<\/p>\n

Keaton continued working steadily throughout the 2000s, with notable roles in \u201cThe Family Stone,\u201d as a dying matriarch reluctant to give her ring to her son, in \u201cMorning Glory,\u201d as a morning news anchor, and the \u201cBook Club\u201d films.<\/a><\/p>\n

She wrote several books as well, including memoirs \u201cThen Again\u201d and \u201cLet\u2019s Just Say It Wasn\u2019t Pretty,\u201d and an art and design book, \u201cThe House that Pinterest Built.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keaton was celebrated with an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2017,<\/a> telling the AP at the time that it was a surreal experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s the wedding I never had, or the big gathering I never had, or the retirement party I never had, or all these things that I always avoided \u2014 the big bash,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a big event for me and I\u2019m really, deeply grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2022, she \u201ccemented\u201d her legacy with a hand and footprint ceremony outside the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, with her children looking on. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think about my film legacy,” she said at the event. “I\u2019m just lucky to have been here at all in any way, shape or form. I\u2019m just fortunate. I don\u2019t see myself anything other than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP National Writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning star of \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d \u201cThe Godfather\u201d films and \u201cFather of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":296118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[150985,185,150986,171,32734,151135,61,67,132,68,75209],"class_list":{"0":"post-296117","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-annie-hall","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-diane-keaton","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-jack-nicholson","13":"tag-nancy-meyers","14":"tag-u-s-news","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-woody-allen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115358714393370344","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}