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For Bette Midler<\/strong><\/a>, Diane Keaton<\/strong><\/a> will always be a friend first.<\/p>\n In the wake of Keaton’s death at age 79<\/a>, the First Wives Club<\/em> actress shared an heartfelt tribute to her late costar<\/p>\n “The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died,” Midler wrote on Instagram Oct. 11<\/a>. “I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star.”<\/p>\n The 79-year-old added, “What you saw was who she was\u2026oh, la, lala!”<\/p>\n Midler and Keaton famously teamed up onscreen alongside Goldie Hawn<\/a><\/strong> in 1996’s First Wives Club<\/em>, which centered around the bond between three divorc\u00e9es. When the trio were honored with a Women in Film Crystal Award for their performance, Midler referred to Keaton as her “dear friend.”<\/p>\n “In my heart of hearts, I suspect this award is not for our work in the First Wives Club<\/em> because it is so brilliant”, she said while accepting the award<\/a>, “but rather because everybody was so overjoyed that three actresses of a certain age still have what it takes to deliver a 100-million-dollar-picture just like the testosterone tyrants.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n