Actress Diane Keaton, the prolific and idiosyncratic screen star whose portrayal of Woody Allen’s love interest in 1977’s “Annie Hall” brought her an Oscar for best actress, has died at the age of 79, according to reports.
The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed they responded to Keaton’s Brentwood home at 8:08 a.m. and transported a 79-year-old woman to a local hospital.
According to People.com, Keaton that woman was Keaton.
Keaton was born in Los Angeles in 1946. She was part of the original Broadway cast of “Hair” in 1968, and also earned a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Allen’s comedy “Play It Again, Sam.”
She first gained the attention of moviegoers with her portrayal of Kay Adams, the wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in 1972’s epic “The Godfather,” a role she reprised in 1974’s sequel, “The Godfather Part II” and 1990’s “The Godfather Part III.”
The early 1970s also saw her launch a fruitful collaboration with Allen, starring alongside the writer/director in a string of classic comedies beginning with the film adaptation of “Play It Again, Sam” in 1972, and continuing with 1973’s “Sleeper,” 1975’s “Love and Death,” “Annie Hall” and 1979’s “Manhattan.”
Her iconic turn as the title character in “Annie Hall” is perhaps her most indelible screen creation. She played a single WASP woman from the Midwest whose romantic pairing with Allen’s neurotic Jewish character touched on many of the personal and social themes of the 1970s. The distinctive, somewhat androgynous clothing she wore in the film also became a trend.
Keaton’s other notable roles include 1977’s “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” in which she played a sexually active single teacher who falls victim to a predator, 1981’s “Reds,” in which she plays real-life revolutionary Louise Bryant opposite Warren Beatty’s John Reed, the 1984 drama “Mrs. Soffel,” 1987’s “Baby Boom,” in which she played a single, working woman who inherits a baby, and “Father of the Bride” (1991) and “Father of the Bride Part II” (1995) alongside Steve Martin.
Her co-starring role alongside Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler in 1996’s “The First Wives Club” signaled a new phase of playing older women, which included 2000’s “Hanging Up” with Lisa Kudrow and Meg Ryan — which Keaton also directed — 2003’s well-received romantic comedy “Something’s Gotta Give” with Jack Nicholson, and 2014’s “And So it Goes” with Michael Douglas.
Her more recent films include 2019’s “Poms” and “Book Club” (2018) and “Book Club: The Next Chapter” (2023).
She dated her three most high-profile co-stars, seeing Allen, Pacino and Beatty at various times, but remained single for her entire life.
“I’m really glad I didn’t get married,” she told People in 2019. “I’m an oddball. I remember in high school, this guy came up to me and said, `One day you’re going to make a good wife.’ And I thought, “I don’t want to be a wife. No.”
Keaton was a vegetarian beginning in 1996. Her hobbies included photography, blogging and real estate development, and she worked with the Los Angeles Conservancy to restore historic buildings in the Los Angeles area, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House in the Hollywood Hills.
Keaton worked occasionally as a director, helming the 1987 music video for Go-Go’s lead singer Belinda Carlisle’s song “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” the 1995 feature film “Unstrung Heroes,” the 1987 documentary “Heaven” and episodes for the television series “China Beach” and “Twin Peaks.”
Her credits as a producer included director Gus Van Sant’s 2003 school shooting drama “Elephant.”
She wrote three nonfiction books, “Then Again” (2011), “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty” (2014) and “Brother & Sister” (2020).
In 2017, she received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute at a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Reaction from Keaton’s peers was beginning to pour in on social media Saturday.
“The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me,” Midler wrote on Instagram. “She 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 — oh, la, lala!”
According to People, citing a source, Allen was “surprised and upset” by her death and “extremely distraught.”
Actress Cynthia Nixon posted a lengthy tribute, writing: “When I was a kid, Diane Keaton was my absolute idol. I loved her acting. I loved her vibe. I loved her everything. Starting with when I was 12, I tried to dress like her. I wore my hair long. I sported men’s hats and vests and (even though my eyes were fine). I wore bookish glasses because I thought they made me look more like her. A little more than a decade ago I got to be in a movie called `Five Flights Up’ with her and it was like a dream come true. I was very shy around her, but I think she liked me and that meant everything to me.
“If you wanna know more about Diane Keaton, watch “Annie Hall,” watch “Reds,” watch “Shoot the Moon.” She is extraordinary in them,” Nixon continued. “But also read `Then Again,’ her stunningly honest autobiography which not only tells her own story but contrasts it fascinatingly with her mother’s life. She was one of a kind. I’m so sad she is gone.”
Keaton played Mandy Moore’s mother in the movie “Because I Said So.” Moore said it was an honor. “They say, `Don’t meet your heroes,’ but I got to work with one of mine and even call her `mom’ for a few months. An honor of a lifetime. What an incandescent human Di is and was. I am so sad she’s gone for all the reasons but also because it felt like she’d be here forever, dazzling us with her talent and charm (and her style, c’mon)!!! One of the very best to ever do it.”
Keaton also appeared in “Mother of the Bride” with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who said: “Diane, working with you will always be one of the highlights of my life. You are one of a kind, and it was thrilling to be in your orbit for a time. Thank you for your kindness, your generosity, your talent and above all, your laughter.”
Hawn wrote on Instagram, “Diane, we aren’t ready to lose you. You’ve left us with a trail of fairy dust, filled with particles of light and memories beyond imagination.” She also wrote, “I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
People Gov. Gavin wrote on X, “In a class all her own, an icon,” and called her “a remarkable woman.”
Steve Martin posted, “Loved! `La dee da, la dee da’.”