Diane Keaton, Oscar-winning star Annie Hall, Godfather movies and Father of the bride whose quirky, flamboyant style and depth made her one of the most prominent actresses of a generation, has died, according to US media reports. She was 79.
People magazine reported Saturday that she died in California with loved ones by her side, citing a family spokesman. No other details were immediately available, and representatives for Keaton did not immediately respond to requests from The Associated Press.
The unexpected news shocked the whole world.
“She was funny, completely original and completely devoid of guile or any kind of competition that you would expect from such a star. What you saw was who she was… oh, la, lala!” Bette Midler announced this on her Instagram. She and Keaton starred in the film First Wives Club
Keaton was the actress who helped make the films iconic and timeless, from her “La-di-da, la-di-da” line as Annie Hall, dressed in a tie, bowler, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking portrayal of Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family.
Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors of all time. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Fabulous. What a man.
—Leg
Her stellar performances in the 1970s, many of them in Woody Allen films, were also no flash in the pan, and she continued to captivate new generations for decades, thanks in part to her long-term collaboration with director Nancy Meyers.
She played a businessman who unexpectedly inherits a baby. Baby boommother of the bride in the favorite remake Father of the briderecently single woman in First Wives Cluband a divorced playwright who hooked up with Jack Nicholson's musical director Something has to give.
Keaton won her first Oscar for Annie Hall and will be nominated three more times, for Reds, Marvin's room And Something has to give.
In Keaton fashion, upon accepting the Oscar in 1978, she laughed and said, “That's something.”
The beginning of Broadway
Keaton was born Diane Hall in January 1946 in Los Angeles, although her family was not part of the film industry in which she found herself. Her mother was a housewife and photographer, and her father was in real estate and civil engineering.
Keaton became interested in theater and singing while attending school in Santa Ana, California, and dropped out of college after a year to pursue it in Manhattan. Actors Equity already had Diane Hall in its ranks, and she took Keaton, her mother's maiden name, as her own.
She studied with Sanford Meisner in New York and expressed her gratitude to him for giving her the freedom to “map the complex picture of human behavior under his safe guidance. It made playing with fire fun.”
“More than anything, Sanford Meisner helped me learn to appreciate the dark side of behavior,” she wrote in her 2012 memoir. Then again. “I've always had the ability to feel it, but haven't had the courage yet to delve into such dangerous, illuminating territory.”
She started on stage as an understudy in a Broadway production. Hairand in Allen Play it again, Sam in 1968, for which she received a Tony nomination.
Hollywood twist
Keaton made her film debut in the 1970 romantic comedy. Lovers and other strangersbut her big break came a few years later when she landed a role in a Francis Ford Coppola film. Godfatherwhich won Best Picture and became one of the most beloved films of all time. And yet, even she was hesitant to return to the sequel, although after reading the script she decided otherwise.
The 1970s were an incredibly productive time for Keaton, thanks in part to her ongoing collaborations with Allen in both comedic and dramatic roles. She appeared in Sleeping place, Love and Death, Interiors, Manhattan, Manhattan Murder Mystery and film version Play it again, Sam.
Allen and the late Marshall Brickman gave Keaton one of her most iconic film roles. Annie Hallthe contagious Chippewa Falls woman whom Allen's Alvy Singer can't forget. Considered one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, the film centers around Keaton's eccentric, self-deprecating Annie.
In The New York Times, critic Vincent Canby wrote: “As Annie Hall, Ms. Keaton plays Woody Allen's Liv Ullman. His camera finds beauty and emotional resources that somehow elude other directors. Her Annie Hall is an amazing madwoman.”
Keaton and Allen were also in a romantic relationship from about 1968, when she met him while auditioning for his play, until about 1974. After that they remained co-authors and friends.
“He was so fashionable, with his thick glasses and cool suits,” Keaton wrote in her memoir. “But I was drawn to his demeanor, his gestures, his hands, his cough and the self-deprecating look down when he told jokes.”
She was also romantically involved with Al Pacino, who played her husband in Godfatherand Warren Beatty, who directed it and with whom she starred in the film Reds. She never married, but adopted two children when she was over 50: daughter Dexter and son Duke.
“I decided that the only way to achieve my number one dream and become a real Broadway musical comedy star was to remain an adoring daughter. Loving a man and becoming a wife will have to be put aside,” she wrote in her memoirs.
“The names changed from Dave to Woody to Warren and finally to Al. Could I make a long-term commitment to them? It's hard to say. Subconsciously, I must have known that it would never work, and because of this, they would never stop me from achieving my dream.”
When Keaton met Nancy Meyers
Not all of Keaton's roles have been successful, such as her foray into action in the George Roy Hill adaptation of John le Carré. Little Drummer Girl. But in 1987, she began another long-running collaboration with Nancy Meyers, which resulted in four beloved films. Reviews for this first outing, Baby boomThe film, directed by Charles Shyer, may have been controversial at the time, but Pauline Kael even described Keaton's production as “a superb comedy performance that cuts through a lot of silliness.”
Their next team will be in the remake Father of the bridewhich Shyer directed and co-wrote with Meyers. She and Steve Martin played the bride's worried parents, which became a big hit and spawned a sequel.
In 2003, Meyers directed her to Something has to givea romantic comedy in which she begins a relationship with a womanizing playboy played by Jack Nicholson and is also pursued by a younger doctor played by Keanu Reeves. Her character Erica Barry, with her beautiful Hamptons home and ivory outfits, has become a key inspiration for the recent rib-bab fashion trend. It earned her one final Oscar nomination, and she would later name the film her favorite film.
She also directed works from time to time, including an episode Twin PeaksBelinda Carlisle music video and sister drama Lights outwhich she co-wrote with Delia Ephron and starred in alongside Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow.
Keaton continued to work steadily throughout the 2000s, playing notable roles in Family stonelike a dying matriarch who does not want to give the ring to her son, in morning gloryas a morning news anchor, and Book club movies.
