<\/p>\n
Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning star of \u2018Annie Hall,\u2019 \u2018The Godfather\u2019 films and \u2018Father of the Bride,\u2019 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 around the world. 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, 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 \u201cFirst Wives Club,\u201d and a divorced playwright who gets involved with Jack Nicholson\u2019s music executive in \u201cSomething\u2019s 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 \u201cMarvin\u2019s Room\u201d and \u201cSomething\u2019s Gotta Give.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her very Keaton way, upon accepting her Oscar in 1978 she laughed and said, \u201cThis is something.\u201d<\/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.<\/p>\n
Keaton was drawn to theater and singing while in school in Santa Ana, Calif., 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 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.<\/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.<\/p>\n
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. <\/i><\/p>\n
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