Diane Keaton’s death from pneumonia was “not a shock” to her longtime friend, who said she had been ill for some time.
The beloved actress, who passed away last weekend at the age of 79, had been in declining health as she battled an unnamed illness, friends told TMZ on Wednesday.
“The Keaton family is extremely grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support we have received over the past few days on behalf of our beloved Diane, who passed away from pneumonia on October 11th,” a representative for the family said in a statement early Wednesday, revealing the cause of her death.
“She loved animals and was a staunch supporter of the non-fed community, so any donation in her memory to a local food bank or animal shelter would be a wonderful and much-appreciated tribute to her.”
A representative announced Keaton’s death on Saturday, adding: “Her family has asked for privacy at this moment of great sadness.”
It was later reported that the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the movie star’s home just after 8 a.m. that morning and transported her by ambulance to a local hospital.
After Keaton’s death, a friend revealed that her health had “taken a sharp turn for the worse” in recent months, but that she and her close-knit circle “chose to keep things secret.”
Her longtime friend Carol Bayer Sager went on to say that when she last saw her less than a month ago, she was “astounded at[Keaton’s]weight loss.”
A source said the mother-of-two “loves” her longtime neighborhood in Brentwood, California, adding that “up until just a few months ago, she was walking her dog every day.”
To the surprise of those who knew her, Keaton, who battled both skin cancer and bulimia during her lifetime, listed her “dream home” in March.
Her last Instagram post was in April, which was also one of her last public outings.
Hours after news of Keaton’s death broke, Ed Begley Jr. recalled meeting Keaton at Something’s Gotta Give co-star Jack Nicholson’s 88th birthday party.
“It was great to see her there,” he said, adding, “She loved Jack Nicholson as much as I did, and Jack loved her. So I’m not going to speak for him. I think he’s just as devastated by her loss as I am.”
The 76-year-old actor was emotional as he recalled working with Keaton, calling her a “great actress” and “a wonderful woman.”
“I played her brother in an HBO movie called Running Mates with Ed Harris,” he said. “So I’m glad I got to know her all these years.”
