Hollywood icon Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79, sending the film industry into mourning.
The Annie Hall actress died in California surrounded by her loved ones, PEOPLE reported on Saturday, October 11.
“There are no further details available at this time, and her family has asked for privacy in this moment of great sadness,” a spokesperson told the publication.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reportedly attended her property at 8.08 am on October 11 and transported a 79-year-old woman to hospital.
Her family later confirmed that Diane had died of pneumonia and expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support from fans.
“The Keaton family are very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support they have received these past few days on behalf of their beloved Diane, who passed away from pneumonia on October 11,” they shared in a statement given to PEOPLE.
“She loved her animals and she was steadfast in her support of the unhoused community, so any donations in her memory to a local food bank or an animal shelter would be a wonderful and much-appreciated tribute to her.”
Diane leaves a lasting legacy in Hollywood after starring in some of its most iconic movies across her five-decade career.
Scroll on for a look back at her incredible life and all of her best movies.
Who is Diane Keaton?
Diane was born in Los Angeles on January 5, 1946, and was the oldest of four children.
Her father, John, worked as a real estate broker and civil engineer, while her mother, Dorothy, was a homemaker who helped with her husband’s business.
Dorothy once won the Mrs Los Angeles pageant, and Diane previously said it was the theatricality of the event that inspired her to pursue acting.
Her mother was a talented singer and musician, with Diane saying she was always her “advocate” and cheered her on to pursue her dreams.
Diane performed plays in high school and went on to pursue drama in college, but dropped out to move to New York and join the theatre.
In 1968, Diane was cast in the Broadway play Hair as the understudy for Sheila, but struggled with bulimia during this time after the director told her to lose weight.
“Believe me, it had to do with an overabundant need for more. Too much. It was a mental illness,” she told PEOPLE in 2017.
“I had a problem — it was sick and creepy. Bulimia takes a lot of time out of your day.”
Diane recovered after undergoing therapy and went on to star in other Broadway shows, including Play It Again, Sam, which nabbed her a Tony nomination.
She made her film debut in the 1970 film Lovers and Other Strangers, marking the start of her trailblazing Hollywood career.
What is Diane Keaton’s best movie?
Diane has a decades-long filmography to her name, and many of her film credits secured her rise to icon status.
She secured her big break in The Godfather when she was cast as Kay Adams, the girlfriend of Al Pacino’s character, Michael Corleone.
Diane previously admitted she had never read the novel by Mario Puzo on which it was based and knew little about the film before being cast.
“I think the kindest thing that someone’s ever done for me… is that I got cast to be in The Godfather and I didn’t even read it. I didn’t know a single thing,” she shared.
The 1972 crime drama became an instant success and won Best Picture at the Oscars, throwing her straight into Hollywood.
Diane reprised her role in both follow-up movies, 1974’s The Godfather Part II, and 1990’s The Godfather Part III.
Diane went on to star in other major hits, including Play It Again, Sam, Sleeper, Manhattan, and Baby Boom.
But her next major success came when she was cast in Woody Allen’s 1977 romance, Annie Hall, as the titular character.
The role saw her take home an Oscar for Best Actress, and the character’s decision to wear menswear – much like Diane herself – cemented her status as a style icon.
Diane went on to star alongside Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler in 1996’s The First Wives Club, and 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give, which garnered her another Oscar nomination.
Her later roles included Book Club, Poms, The Family Stone, and Because I Said So.
She has more than 70 acting credits to her name and is one of Hollywood’s best-known talents.
Were Diane Keaton and Al Pacino together?
Diane was famously in a relationship with her co-star and on-screen love interest, Al Pacino.
Though they first met while filming The Godfather, they didn’t start dating until they filmed the second movie, which came out two years later.
However, Diane told the Daily Telegraph she was “really very taken with Al from the very beginning”.
The couple dated on and off from 1971 for more than 10 years, and she has been described as the great love of Al Pacino’s life.
Their relationship ended in 1990 after Diane gave him an ultimatum to get married.
“I worked hard on that one. I went about it in not a perfect way,” she told PEOPLE.
Despite their split, they have always spoken fondly of one another over the years.
In his 2024 memoir Sonny Boy, Al Pacino told how he “always had a connection” with Diane.
“She understood my read on things, and it felt comforting to have someone who got me. So I went after her,” he shared.
“We hung out together, and after a couple of months, we decided to get together. We found a tempo and a temperature that was right.”
Was Diane Keaton married?
Diane also famously dated filmmaker Woody Allen and actor Warren Beatty, but she never married.
Diane previously reflected on being 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,” she told PEOPLE in 2019.
“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.’”
Does Diane Keaton have children?
Diane has two children, a daughter, Dextor, and a son, Duke.
She adopted Dexter in 1996 and Duke in 2001, and raised them both as a single mother.
“Motherhood was not an urge I couldn’t resist; it was more like a thought I’d been thinking for a very long time. So I plunged in,” she told Ladies’ Home Journal in 2008.
