<\/p>\n
Diane Keaton, the quirky U.S. actress who won an Academy Award and captured hearts with her endearing performance as Woody Allen\u2019s eccentric, insecure girlfriend in the 1977 romantic comedy \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d has died at the age of 79, People reported on Saturday, citing a family spokesperson.<\/p>\n
A representative for Keaton could not immediately be reached.<\/p>\n
Keaton, who appeared in more than 60 films, including \u201cThe Godfather\u201d trilogy, \u201cThe First Wives Club\u201d and eight films with Allen, stood out in Hollywood with a personal style that favored androgynous looks, turtleneck sweaters and her trademark hats.<\/p>\n
She earned Oscar nominations for best actress for her portrayal of U.S. journalist Louise Bryant in the 1981 political drama \u201cReds,\u201d as a caring aunt to Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1996 family saga \u201cMarvin\u2019s Room\u201d and opposite Jack Nicholson in the 2003 romantic comedy \u201cSomething\u2019s Gotta Give.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d which Allen loosely based on his relationship with Keaton, that established her as a consummate actress.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an idealized version of me, let\u2019s put it that way,\u201d Keaton said about the film in an interview with CBS News in 2004.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnnie Hall\u201d and Keaton\u2019s dramatic turn as a dedicated teacher by day and prowler of singles bars at night in \u201cLooking for Mr. Goodbar\u201d landed her on the cover of \u201cTime\u201d magazine in September 1977.<\/p>\n
Rolling Stone magazine described her as \u201cthe next (Katherine) Hepburn\u201d in its June 30th issue that year.<\/p>\n
Forty years later Allen paid tribute to his early muse when Keaton received the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award for her body of work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minute I met her she was a great, great inspiration to me,\u201d he said. \u201cMuch of what I\u2019ve accomplished in my life I owe for sure to her. She\u2019s really astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keaton was also a director, writer, producer, and photographer and had a passion for restoring California mansions. She detailed her life in two memoirs, \u201cThen Again\u201d in 2011, in which she revealed she had suffered from the eating disorder bulimia in her 20s, and \u201cLet\u2019s Just Say it Wasn\u2019t Pretty\u201d in 2014.<\/p>\n
She was equally famous for high-profile romances with her leading men: Allen; Warren Beatty, her co-star and director in \u201cReds\u201d; and Al Pacino, who played her boyfriend and husband in \u201cThe Godfather\u201d films.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach man had a different decade,\u201d she told The Telegraph in 2013. \u201cWoody was my twenties, Warren was my thirties and Al was borderline: late thirties\/early forties.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018LA-DEE-DA, LA-DEE-DA, LA-LA\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Keaton was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles on January 5, 1946. The oldest of four children, she adopted her mother\u2019s maiden name to avoid confusion with another actress with the same moniker.<\/p>\n Her father, a civil engineer, and her housekeeper mother moved the family to suburban Santa Ana when Keaton was a child.<\/p>\n After briefly attending college in California, Keaton moved to New York to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse. She landed a role in the original Broadway rock musical \u201cHair\u201d in 1968. The shy actress, who spent years in therapy, refused to appear nude in the production.<\/p>\n But it was an audition with Allen for the stage production of \u201cPlay It Again, Sam\u201d that changed her life.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing would have happened without Woody Allen. If I hadn\u2019t been cast in that play \u2026\u201d Keaton said in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2011.<\/p>\n Keaton won a Tony nomination for the role that sparked their romance as well as a life-long friendship and a collaboration that included many of Allen\u2019s best films such as \u201cSleeper,\u201d \u201cLove and Death\u201d and \u201cManhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n In \u201cAnnie Hall,\u201d she immortalized the phrase \u201cla-dee-da, la-dee-da, la-la,\u201d which was characteristic of her flighty, fluttered style.<\/p>\n Keaton stood by Allen years later after the filmmaker\u2019s adopted daughter accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was a child. Allen has denied the allegations and has never been charged.<\/p>\n \u201cI still love him – there are some people who stay in your life and it matters and they are in for the long haul,\u201d she said about Allen in an interview with The Telegraph in 2013.<\/p>\n After seeing her in \u201cLovers and Other Strangers\u201d and intrigued by her kooky, nervous demeanor, Francis Ford Coppola cast Keaton as Kay Adams, Pacino\u2019s love interest in \u201cThe Godfather.\u201d It was a major role for the actress in the film that won the Oscar for best picture in 1973.<\/p>\n As Keaton\u2019s career progressed she moved from ingenue roles to mature career women and mothers grappling with family issues. She credits director Nancy Myers for her long-lasting career. They worked on four films together, including 1987\u2019s \u201cBaby Boom,\u201d and the 1991 remake of the 1950s film \u201cFather of the Bride.\u201d<\/p>\n Keaton was also nominated for a lead actress Emmy in 1995 for \u201cAmelia Earhart: The Final Flight\u201d and directed several films, television episodes and two music videos for singer Belinda Carlisle.<\/p>\n Despite her well-publicized romances, she never married.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I was really afraid of men and also very attracted to extremely talented people that were dazzling,\u201d she told Elle magazine in 2015. \u201cI don\u2019t think that makes for a good marriage with a person like me, someone who just didn\u2019t adjust well.\u201d<\/p>\n After adopting two children, Dexter and Duke, when she was in her 50s, Keaton said she found a real purpose in her life that she never had before.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very heavily involved in myself forever. And this changes the whole landscape of your life. Your whole point of view in a good way,\u201d she told CBS News. \u201cIn a nice way. \u2026 I just think they are both miracles.\u201d<\/p>\n
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