Diane Keaton, the versatile and lovably idiosyncratic star who made her name in films like The Godfather and Annie Hall, for which she won a Best Actress Academy Award, has died at the age of 79. Per People, the outlet "can confirm the legendary actress died in California on Saturday, Oct. 11. 'There are no further details available at this time, and her family has asked for privacy in this moment of great sadness,'" according to a rep.
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Keaton's Career Skyrocketed in the 1970s
As a performer, Keaton was brilliant, unpredictable, and equally deft at comedy and drama. Her film roles unequivocally prove that. She was comfortable being zany as well as portraying tragic heroines. Her career soared during the 1970s. She was Kay Adams Corleone in The Godfather, playing the strait-laced New Englander who loves a devious crime boss but abhors the terrible things he and his family do to preserve their empire.
Another marquee part Keaton plated to perfection was wacky Annie Hall in director Woody Allen's comic masterpiece of the same name. It landed her an Academy Award, an unusual feat in light of the fact that Oscars are seldom bestowed for comic performances. Keaton's casual, slightly kooky menswear-style wardrobe in the film also triggered a trend.
Yet a third movie of this era that established Keaton's reputation in Hollywood was Looking for Mr. Goodbar. She played a teacher of deaf students who latches onto men for intimate encounters that sometimes turned violent.
She Liked To Show Her Funny Side
Keaton's lighter fare included movies such as Father of the Bride with Steve Martin, Baby Boom alongside Harold Ramis, and The First Wives Club opposite Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn.
Despite her evident success in movies like those and many others, professional longevity, and acclaim, Keaton modestly downplayed her triumphs. Per the outlet, she said six years ago, "I don't know anything, and I haven't learned. Getting older hasn't made me wiser. Without acting I would have been a misfit."
Keaton Carved Her Own Personal Path
The actress was linked with several prominent actors. Among them were Al Pacino, her Godfather co-star, and Warren Beatty, whom she acted with in the historical epic Reds. Yet Keaton never walked down the aisle.
She shared with the outlet, "Today I was thinking, I'm the only one in my generation of actresses who has been a single woman all her life. I'm really glad I didn't get married. I'm an oddball. I remember in high school, this guy came up to me and said, 'One day you're going to make a good wife.' And I thought, 'I don't want to be a wife. No.'"
Keaton did, however, choose motherhood. She adopted two children, a son named Duke and a daughter, Dexter.
