Diane Keaton, whose long and prolific career as an actress, producer and director was memorably garnered attention for her Academy Award-winning performance as Woody Allen’s titular love interest in the 1977 romantic comedy Annie Hall, for which she acted, wrote and directed, has died in California, People magazine reported. She was 79 years old.
In addition to winning for Annie Hall, Hall was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for Reds, Something’s Gotta Give, and Marvin’s Room. Her other notable roles include “The Godfather,” “Father of the Bride,” and “Baby Boom.”
Her recent starring roles include The Book Club and its sequel Poms, and her last screen role was in 2024’s Summer Camp with Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard.
After establishing himself on Broadway as a co-star in Allen’s comedy hit Play It Again, Sam in 1969 (during which the cast members developed a romantic relationship), Keaton starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part 2. She made a strong impression on Hollywood with her role as Kay Adams, the troubled girlfriend and then-spouse of mobster Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), in the movie “Mega Corleone” (Al Pacino). (1974).
But what made Keaton’s deepest impression on her was her frequent co-starring with Allen, who served as his on-screen comedic foil even after their marriage ended. After reprising the role in Herbert Ross’s 1972 film Play It Again, Sam, she appeared as a diminutive comic in his science fiction comedy Sleeper (1973) and the Russian literary parody Love and Death (1975).
But her role as Annie Hall, comedian Albie Singer’s (Allen) flirtatious girlfriend, in this unconventional film truly catapulted her into the top echelon of movie actresses, earning her Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay in the process. Keaton, who was the model for her character, also emerged as a style icon (due to her unconventional fashion sense) and was an instant influence on other young actresses.
In a New Yorker profile published at the height of Keaton’s fame, Penelope Gilliat said, “She is not at all like the many actresses who skimmed mannerisms and relied on ‘Welles’ and dithers for insulting, mild imitations. Miss Keaton…is no saint like the harried actresses she was cast to play.”
“‘I just noticed everyone saying ‘la di da’ like Annie Hall, and I don’t like that, you know?” she said to me. “Being able to be identified is comforting, but it’s not a good idea. It feels safe in most ways, but it’s bad, because it means you’re accepted, and once that happens, that’s where you stay. You have to police yourself. I want to live a life like Katharine Hepburn when it comes to work. She’s matured. She’s made changes.”
Keaton sometimes utilized the character’s giddy qualities in later films, but he soon moved on to other, more somber projects. She took over the role of the promiscuous teacher in Richard Brooks’ shocking bestselling film adaptation of Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), and appeared in Allen’s Bergmanesque drama Interiors (1978) and dark comedy Manhattan (1979).
Keaton earned her second Oscar nomination for her role as early 20th century socialite-turned-radical Louise Bryant in Reds (1981), a sweeping political historical drama directed and co-written by her then-boyfriend Warren Beatty and starring as left-wing journalist John Reed.
She gained much attention for her work in Gillian Armstrong’s Mrs. Soffel (1984) and Bruce Beresford’s Crime of the Heart (1986), and co-starred again in a bit role in Allen’s period comedy Radio Days (1987). That same year, her role as a busy career woman with her deceased cousin’s young daughter in Baby Boom began a series of fruitful comedic collaborations with screenwriter (and later director) Nancy Meyers.
In 1990, Keaton, who had been on and off with her The Godfather co-star Pacino since 1971, reprized her role as Kay Adams Corleone in Coppola’s long-delayed The Godfather Part III. She made a profitable return to comedy opposite Steve Martin in the remake and 1995 sequel of Meyers’ hit Father of the Bride (1991). “Manhattan Murder Mystery” (1993) took a different turn opposite Allen. He then teamed up with Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn in the blockbuster hit “The First Wives Club” (1996).
Keaton won two more Best Actress Oscars for starring alongside Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio in Jerry Zacks’ drama Marvin’s Room (1996), in which she played a leukemia-stricken woman dealing with family turmoil, and in Myers’ romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give, in which she played a playwright who becomes involved with an elderly Louie (Jack Nicholson). (2003).
She has been active as a director since the ’80s, most notably directing the video for Go-Go lead singer Belinda Carlyle’s 1987 solo hit “Heaven is a Place on Earth.” She went on to direct episodes of the network series “China Beach” and “Twin Peaks,” as well as the features “Unstrung Heroes” (1995) and “Hanging Up” (2000), co-starring Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow. She produced the Fox series “Pasadena” and Gus Van Sant’s amazing Columbine-inspired feature “Elephant” (2003).
She published the best-selling memoirs Then Again (2011), Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty (2015), and Brother and Sister (2020). Since the 1970s she has been an avid photographer whose work is included in Reservations and has edited several photo books. She was also active in preserving historic homes.
Keaton received the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Presenter Woody Allen put a spin on the fedora-wearing honoree’s timeless style, quipping, “She resembles the woman who tries to take Blanche away in A Streetcar Named Desire.”
In response to the award, the actress eschewed a speech in favor of her memorable performance of “Sheems Like Old Times” from “Annie Hall.”
She was born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946 in Los Angeles. Allen later adopted her nickname and family name as her most famous character’s handle. While in high school in Santa Ana, California, she was active in both music and theater (in fact, she played Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire).
After dropping out of college, she moved to New York to pursue a career as a professional actor, using her mother’s maiden name. In 1968, she appeared on Broadway in the American Tribal Love Rock Musical Hair, garnering attention for refusing to strip for the play’s infamous ensemble nude scene. She appeared on the big screen in 1970’s “Lovers and Strangers.”
After an open audition, she won the role of the female lead in Allen’s “Play Again, Sam.” In this film, a movie critic suffering from sexual maladourism receives love advice from the shadow of Humphrey Bogart. The co-stars became an item, and their on-screen collaboration continued long after they separated in the late ’70s.
The influence of her mesmerizing performance as an aspiring singer in Annie Hall (a role she couldn’t live up to in real life) extended far beyond her skillful acting into the realm of national style. Her wardrobe in the film – wide-brimmed hat, men’s shirt, tie and vest, and slacks – became heavily imitated as streetwear for young women in the late ’70s.
Keaton never married, but is survived by his adopted daughter Dexter and son Duke.
