Diane Keaton - ©Theda Bara

Diane Keaton passed away last Saturday, October 11th, surrounded by her family, with no cause of death disclosed. The only information given to the press was that her health had deteriorated rapidly in recent months. Cinema has lost another of its iconic actresses.

After a remarkable run of nearly a decade of films with her boyfriend Woody Allen (1935-), Diane finally won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1978 for her performance in “Annie Hall” (1977), playing “Annie Hall”, a budding singer with a somewhat complex mind who meets “Alvy Singer” (actor/director: Allen), a divorced Jewish comedian who has been in therapy for fifteen years. The couple decides to live together, but marital crises begin to emerge and affect both of their feelings.

Diane Keaton was one of the people who defended Woody Allen after accusations from his ex-wife, Mia Farrow (1945-), that Allen had abused their daughter, Dylan Farrow (1985-), who was then 7 years old.

Her film fame began with her appearance in Francis Ford Coppola's (1939-) “The Godfather” (1972), playing “Kay Adams-Corleone”, the wife of “Michael Corleone”, played by Al Pacino (1940-). In 1974 and 1990, she reprised the role in parts II and III of the classic.

Diane received three other nominations for Hollywood’s top award, Best Actress, for her performances in “Reds” in 1981, playing “Louise Bryant”; “Marvin’s Room” in 1996, playing “Bessie”; and “Something’s Gotta Give” in 2003, playing “Erica Barry”. Keaton’s box office hits include the comedies “My Big Fat Greek Gift” (1987), playing “J.C. Wiatt”; “Father of the Bride” (1991, 1995, and 2020), playing “Nina Banks”; and “The First Wives Club” (1996), playing “Annie Paradis”.

Other awards include a BAFTA Award for Best Actress (1978) for “Annie Hall”; and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (1978 and 2004) for “Annie Hall” and “Something’s Gotta Give”.

The actress’s last film was “Summer Camp” 2024, playing “Nora”, another comedy, this time with Eugene Levy (1946-) and Kathy Bates (1948-). According to IMDB, she participated in three pre-production projects. One of them, called “The Making of”, was to star Blake Lively (1987-) and Richard Gere (1949-). The script was written by Marshall Herskovits (1952-), Oscar winner for “Traffic” in 2001.

The actress tried her hand at singing, releasing Christmas songs, but without much success, one of the few failures for such a talented actress. Another failure for the actress was not having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Diane Keaton, born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, United States, passed away on October 11, 2025, in Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 79.

Diane dated actors and film directors Woody Allen and Warren Beatty, younger brother of award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine (1934-); and also actor Al Pacino, but never officially married. She leaves behind two adopted children: young Dexter (1995-) and teenage daughter Duke (2000-).

Between 1993 and 2008, Diane was the primary caregiver for her mother, Dorothy Deanne Keaton (1921-2008), who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Their relationship, in fact, was a significant part of the actress's autobiography, “Now and Forever”, published in 2011.