She admired Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich so much that she didn't hesitate to perpetuate her style wearing pantsuits and ties in countless public appearances. Another distinctive feature of her attire was gloves. She usually didn't shake hands if she wasn't wearing them.
The death of Diane Keaton at the age of 79 on Saturday night (Spanish time) has left everyone stunned. The causes of her death are currently unknown.
Trained as an actress between Los Angeles and New York, Keaton first stepped on a Broadway stage in 1967 as a chorus member in the musical Hair, where she became a supporting actress the following year. While her colleagues were undressing on stage, she refused. In 1969, she passed the audition for the theatrical production of Play It Again, Sam (1968), directed by Woody Allen (89).
This later was adapted into a film and became the first of the eight collaborations between the actress and the director, including Play It Again, Sam (1972), Sleeper (1973), Manhattan (1979), Radio Days (1987), and, of course, Annie Hall (1977), for which Diane won the Oscar for Best Actress.
Love also blossomed between them, as she declared in 2010 on CBS: "I had an immediate crush as soon as I saw him for the first time." They dated from 1970 to 1971, but eventually decided to remain friends as the actress's bulimia had become a serious issue. Such a strong friendship that when the issue of alleged sexual abuse of her adopted daughter Dylan Farrow arose, the star did not hesitate to write in X that "Woody Allen is my friend, and I still believe in him."
Upon learning of the death of his muse, the New York director issued a statement expressing feeling "extremely distressed, surprised, and upset. It makes him think about his own mortality. He greatly appreciated her."
In the seventies, Diane Keaton starred in one of the most famous trilogies in film history, The Godfather (1972), The Godfather II (1974), and The Godfather III (1990). While she only received $35,000 for the first one, her fee for the last one reached $1.7 million.
In this mafia classic, she fell in love with Al Pacino (85). In an interview with People, the actress revealed, "I had a crush on him" during the first installment, but they didn't fall in love until the second: "I was crazy about him. He was charming, hilarious (...) He was a tireless talker. There was something of a lost orphan in him, like a wise fool, a kind of chaotic genius. And he was handsome!"
They had their ups and downs, but whenever the paparazzi photographed them, they portrayed two eternal playful, smiling, and affectionate teenagers. As time passed, Diane wanted to take a step forward and formalize the relationship: "Will you marry me, or at least consider it," she recalled in one of her interviews during the filming of The Godfather III.
The actress remembered the actor's response: "Poor Al, he never wanted to get married, and poor me, I never stopped insisting." They broke up after the premiere of the third installment of the film. "I gave him an ultimatum, and it was over. I worked hard on that relationship, but I didn't do it in the best way."
This decision contrasts with the one she decisively made in high school when someone approached her to say she would make a good wife, to which she replied, "I don't want to be a wife. No." Both actors were together for 15 years, but they always maintained affection and good memories. When Interview proposed that 25 friends and fans ask her anything in 2021, when it was Al's turn, she replied, "I was in love with you. You couldn't be more magical, entertaining, and unique, and all those things wrapped in one."
In 1979, Diane had already fallen into the arms of one of Hollywood's greatest seducers, Warren Beatty (88), who ended up directing her in Reds (1981). In her memoir, Then Again, the Californian wrote that she fell in love with Beatty after seeing him in Splendor in the Grass (1961). In a conversation with Variety nine years ago, the actress confessed that after seeing him in the classic alongside Nathalie Wood, "it was to die for. A dream (...) He was not only beautiful, beautiful, and sexy and captivating and mysterious and a great movie star, but he was also an incredible producer and director."
Their relationship lasted five years, after which Beatty married Annette Bening (67), with whom he has four children. Decades after the breakup, the actor told People in 2016 that Diane "is a combination of integrity, humor, intelligence, and justice, and did I say beauty? A brilliant sense of humor."
The iconic Hollywood actress did not have any more significant romances. Already in her fifties, she began to rethink her life. She decided not to get married. In an interview with The Guardian six years ago, she admitted, "The concept of being an old maid is nonsense. The idea that if you don't get married, you're doomed is ridiculous." And another significant life change was her decision to become a mother.
As she had not become a mother naturally, she opted for adoption. A few months after her birth, the star adopted her daughter Dexter in 1996, an attractive young woman who got married four years ago. Her son Duke was born in 2000 but was not adopted until the following year.
Her two children have stayed away from the spotlight, so it is very rare for them to appear in public with their famous mother. In this regard, she stated, "They have no interest in what I do, which I think is very healthy. We live a relatively normal life, well, somewhat normal."
What the actress liked the most was buying houses and renovating them. In fact, many were surprised that she put up for sale the one she had called 'the house of her dreams' between Brentwood and Pacific Palisades last spring for $29 million.
She had built it from scratch and it took her about eight years to build it, inspired by the tale of The Three Little Pigs. In fact, she published a book about this whole process titled The House That Pinterest Built.
Although the causes of the star's death are currently unknown, some American media outlets suggest that, following a sudden diagnosis of an illness, and knowing that it was progressing rapidly, Diane Keaton decided to get rid of some assets. Perhaps, so that her children would have to deal with as little paperwork as possible.
These sources assure that the actress was accompanied by her closest family members and that her closest friends were unaware of the seriousness of her health condition. In one of her last published images, Diane appears alongside her beloved dog Reggie, with whom she used to walk daily.