Diane Keaton, one of the most beloved movie stars of the last 50 years, has died at the age of 79 in California.
The news was confirmed by People magazine. Further details are not available at this time and his relatives have asked for their privacy, according to a family spokesperson.
Keaton’s death came as a shock to Hollywood and the rest of the world. The actor had not been visible for several months, but no illness had been announced.
Bette Midler, Keaton’s co-star on The First Wives Club, said on Instagram: “The brilliant, beautiful and extraordinary Diane Keaton has passed away. I can’t tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was hilarious and completely devoid of the guile or competitiveness one would expect from such a star. What you saw was who she was… oh, la, lala!” Actress and director Elizabeth Banks said on Instagram: “She was beloved in her industry. Every one of us idolized her. Her influence on culture, fashion, art and women cannot be overstated. She was a delight. I’m proud to have a career that allowed me to meet her and breathe her air.”
On X, actor Ben Stiller called Keaton “one of the greatest screen actors of all time. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person.” Director Paul Feig said he was “very honored to call Diane Keaton a friend. She was an incredibly kind and creative person who also happened to be a Hollywood legend. She was taken from us far too soon.” Nancy Sinatra said on
An enduring and singular cinema icon since her Oscar-winning turn in 1977’s Annie Hall – which her director, screenwriter, co-star and former boyfriend Woody Allen based largely on his own life – Keaton has starred in some of the key films of the last half-century.
Her keen self-deprecation, gift for comedy and distinctive dress sense – rarely seen without a hat, turtleneck or man’s tie and wide-leg pants – made her both very unique and impossible to imitate.
Her first major film role was alongside Al Pacino in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather – she reprized the role of Michael Corleone’s wife in both sequels. Other Academy Award nominations were earned for his performances in Reds (1981), Marvin’s Room (1996), and Something’s Gotta Give (2003).
During this time, dramas such as Looking for Mr Goodbar, Shoot the Moon and The Good Mother established her as an actress unafraid to play difficult and unsympathetic women.
Keaton and Allen first collaborated on the stage version of Play It Again, Sam, for which she received a Tony nomination in 1971, before working together on eight films, including Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), and Manhattan (1979).
In 1993, Keaton took on the role written for Mia Farrow in Manhattan Murder Mystery and remained a staunch supporter of Allen after Farrow’s accusation that he had abused their adopted daughter, Dylan.
Other popular and notable comedies include Baby Boom, Father of the Bride (and its sequels), The First Wives Club and Book Club.
The sequel to this film, Book Club: The Next Chapter, released in 2023, is expected to be one of the last projects starring Keaton. Speaking to the Guardian to promote it, she explained why she has chosen to remain so prolific, making seven films since the start of the pandemic.
“It gives me the opportunity to get to know more people in a different field,” she said. “I love it. Everything is interesting. Life is never boring, ever.”
She also explained her love of photographing abandoned doors and stores, which she said she finds poignant “because life is haunting! You have an idea in your mind of what it is, or what it should be, or what it could be. But it’s not that at all! It’s just things going up and down!”
In 1996, Keaton adopted a daughter, Dexter (named after Cary Grant’s character in The Philadelphia Story) and, four years later, a son, Duke. “Motherhood has completely changed me,” she said. “It’s just about the most humiliating experience I’ve ever had.” Despite high-profile relationships with some of her co-stars, including Pacino and Warren Beatty, she has remained single.
Keaton cared for his own mother from her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease in 1993 until her death in 2008, and devoted much of his own autobiographies to recounting his mother’s life and publishing her diary.
“She was everything to me,” she says of her mother. “She was wonderful. She was my example of what you can do in life. She was the heart of everything that was best.”
Keaton was also the primary caregiver for her brother, Randy, who died in 2021, after years of mental health issues.
As well as acting primarily for the big screen, Keaton has worked in television, most notably as a scheming nun in Jude Law’s television series The Young Pope. She also had a side hustle flipping properties in the United States, while lending her name and creativity to lines of home goods, clothing, glassware and wine.
In 2017, the American Film Institute presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award, in which she thanked her collaborators and sang Seems Like Old Times, the song her character sings in Annie Hall.
In December 2024, in what appears to be his final performance shared with the public, Keaton released his first single, a festive song titled First Christmas. An enthusiastic social media fan, his last Instagram post was in April on National Pet Day and featured a photo of the actor with his beloved golden retriever, Reggie.
