The world was stunned Saturday at the news that Diane Keaton—the iconic actor known for Annie Hall, Something’s Gotta Give, the Godfather trilogy, and many other films—had died. Keaton, who was 79, reportedly passed on Saturday, October, 11, after what’s said to have been a recent health crisis. Within hours, Hollywood luminaries began to share remembrances of Keaton, noting her distinctive style, artistic acumen, and kindness.
Many of those tributes were posted to social media. In an Instagram post, Bette Midler, who starred in the 1996 film The First Wives Club alongside Diane Keaton, wrote “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!” Kate Hudson, whose mother, Goldie Hawn, was also in that film, shared a clip from the movie, writing “We love you so much Diane.”
Hawn herself wrote “How do we say goodbye? What words can come to mind when your heart is broken? You never liked praise, so humble, but now you can’t tell me to ‘shut up’ honey. There was, and will be, no one like you.”
“We agreed to grow old together, and one day, maybe live together with all our girlfriends,” Hawn continued. “Well, we never got to live together, but we did grow older together. Who knows… maybe in the next life. Shine your fairy dust up there, girlfriend. I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
Another co-star, Steve Martin, posted an exchange Keaton had with Martin Short, in which Short asked her “Who’s sexier, me or Steve Martin?” “I mean, you’re both idiots,” Keaton replied. “Don’t know who first posted this, but it sums up our delightful relationship with Diane,” Martin wrote in his caption.
The pair—both of whom appeared with Keaton in 1991’s Father of the Bride—also paid tribute to her during the Las Vegas stop of their “The Dukes of Funnytown!” comedy tour Saturday night, attendees said. “They came back for a quick “encore”…. a toast, to the amazing Diane Keaton,” an audience member posted to X.
Jane Fonda, who starred with Keaton in 2018 movie Book Club and its 2023 sequel, wrote on Instagram that Keaton was “limitlessly creative…in her acting, her wardrobe, her books, her friends, her homes, her library, her world view. Unique is what she was. And, though she didn’t know it or wouldn’t admit it, man she was a fine actress!”
Leonardo DiCaprio, who shared the screen with Keaton in 1996 thriller Marvin’s Room, also praised her originality in an Instagram story. “Diane Keaton was one of a kind. Brilliant, funny, and unapologetically herself. A legend, an icon, and a truly kind human being.”
Andy Garcia, who appeared on screen with Keaton in The Godfather Part III, shared a set of photos he took of her while in Sicily during filming. “Diane you will be deeply missed,” he wrote “but your sublime light will shine forever.”
That sentiment was shared by Reese Witherspoon, whose voice broke as she addressed attendees at her Hello Sunshine Shine Away conference in Los Angeles Saturday. “She was one of my first mentors in this business,” Witherspoon said.
Recalling her time on the set of 1991 film Wildflower, which Keaton directed, Witherspoon said the experience was “one of the most important summers of my childhood.”
“But the thing I just loved about her is she was such an original,” Witherspoon said, holding back tears. “If you just close your mind and think of Diane Keaton … she is just incredible and indelible.”
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