Beloved Actor Diane Keaton Dies at 79

Diane Keaton, the beloved Hollywood icon who captured hearts and an Oscar as Annie Hall, has died at age 79.

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.

The unexpected news was met with shock around the world. Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in that necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family in The Godfather.

Keaton spoke to AARP in 2023 about her life and career. What follows is that interview with writer Natasha Stoynoff.

***

Diane Keaton is perplexed by my question. Not many aspiring actresses become Hollywood leading ladies, and not many leading ladies have careers that span more than 50 years, that garner four Oscar nominations (including one win) or that link them to some of the most iconic directors and costars in cinema history. But when I ask Keaton for the secret to her success and longevity in the business, she seems stumped. Does she understand why directors and audiences have been so taken with her all this time?​A long silence. Then, “I understand my great good fortune. That’s what I understand,” says Keaton, 77, by phone from her home in Los Angeles. “There was an aspect to me that was, I think, a little more, I don’t know …” She hunts for words to explain the tragicomic, off-kilter appeal of so much of her work. “I wasn’t what you’d call ‘a real actress.’ I was more, well, not quite there. It just wasn’t me. Shoot, the whole thing is so strange to even think back on.”​

That “whole thing” includes roles as Kay Corleone in the Godfather films; as the endearing, self-deprecating heroine of Annie Hall; as a journalist in Reds; and as a hard-charging single mom in Baby Boom. Keaton’s pantheon of leading men has featured Woody Allen, Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas, Sam Shepard, Richard Gere — let’s keep going — even Steve Martin and Keanu Reeves. Keaton also plays well with women, like Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn, her costars in the surprise 1996 smash hit The First Wives Club.

And she is still in demand. In director Bill Holderman’s Book Club: The Next Chapter, Keaton and costars Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen reprise their roles from the 2018 film to cavort through Italy, flirting with locals and draining bottles of prosecco.​​ Keaton has now added a new line to her résumé: Instagram star. Her account has been called “a national treasure” by the digerati at Mashable, “a wholesome hub of never-before-seen throwbacks, hilarious jokes, nods to impressive art and architecture, thoughtful birthday wishes to fellow celebs, and quality Crush Content.”​

And we’ve discovered something. By talking to Keaton about her very public Instagram account — she has some 2.3 million followers — we got a better understanding of what’s behind the quirky allure that has fostered one of Hollywood’s greatest careers, an allure Keaton herself can’t quite explain.​

The oldest of four children, Keaton spent her earliest years in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park, where her family lived in a corrugated metal Quonset hut. Once, seeing a similar building on the outskirts of Tucson, Keaton posted a photo to Instagram and wrote, “It made me miss my mom and dad.” Her father was John Hall, a civil engineer and real estate broker, and her mother, the former Dorothy Keaton, was a homemaker. (Keaton uses her mother’s maiden name because there was already an actress named Diane Hall.)​

Dorothy, who was an amateur photographer, collagist, potter and diarist, yearned for recognition — a yearning that inspired Keaton’s own professional aspirations.​