For over 50 years, Diane Keaton has held sway over pop culture, as an award winning actor, the author of multiple memoirs, and an icon of style. She reportedly died on October 11 at age 79, leaving behind countless photos from film sets, awards ceremonies, and candid appearances.
“Why on Earth did you choose me for The Godfather?!” Diane Keaton asked Francis Ford Coppola during an “ask me anything” session on Instagram Stories in 2023. “I chose you, because although you were to play the more straight/vanilla wife, there was something more about you, deeper, funnier, and very interesting. (I was right),” Coppola responded.
Initially titled Anhedonia, the first cut of Woody Allen‘s 1977 film Annie Hall “was very off,” Allen’s co-screenwriter Marshall Brickman told Vanity Fair. But it “had wonderful, brilliant moments and a great performance by Diane,” Brickman said, and in the final edit, “they just took everything out that wasn’t an elephant. The elephant in this case was Woody and Diane.” As a result, the film captured the Academy Awards for best picture, director, actress, and original screenplay.
As a nation fell in love with Diane Keaton, actor and director Warren Beatty did, as well. The duo were an item from the height of Annie Hall‘s popularity, and starred together in Beatty’s 1981 film, Reds. “If Diane Keaton had not made Reds, I don’t know what I would have done,” Beatty told press at the time.
Keaton was as well known for her work as a performer as for her unique style “I just need belts,” Keaton once told Vanity Fair. “I like loafers, things like that. I love turtlenecks, obviously.” Hats, ties, and volumnious trousers were also signature looks.
Keaton was also the rare woman in Hollywood who—even after reaching middle age—continued to be cast in romantic and powerful roles. Sure, she was a spurned spouse in 1996’s The First Wives Club, but one who rejected her philandering husband when he attempted a reconciliation. In 2003, her role in Nancy Meyers rom-com Something’s Gotta Give cemented that position, allowing Keaton dalliances with both Keanu Reeves and Jack Nicholson.
But in real life, Keaton never married—and she was fine with that, she said in 2019. “I think I’m the only one in my generation and maybe before who has been a single woman all her life,” she said then. “I don’t think it would have been a good idea for me to have married, and I’m really glad I didn’t.”
Keaton continued to work in the last years of her life, starring in 2018 rom-com Book Club and its 2023 sequel, supporting J. Crew at New York Fashion Week, and appearing in the video for Justin Bieber‘s 2021 single, “Ghost.” “I never understood the idea that you’re supposed to mellow as you get older,” Keaton said in 2012. “Slowing down isn’t something I relate to at all. The goal is to continue in good and bad, all of it. To continue to express myself, particularly.”
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