Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton, celebrated for her effortless charm, sense of humor, and pioneering fashion sense, has passed away at the age of 79.
Her passing was confirmed by producer Dori Rath, who collaborated with her, to CNN on Saturday, October 12, 2025. The news was initially reported by People magazine, while the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Medical Examiner have yet to announce an official cause of death. The Los Angeles Fire Department said paramedics had gone to Keaton’s home earlier in the morning on a medical call and took her to a local hospital.
Diane Hall was born on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles. Her career lasted for over five decades. She emerged as Hollywood’s most familiar face, admired for her unique sense of comedy, vulnerability on the screen, and her androgynous, fashion-reversing style. Her supporting performance in 1977’s Annie Hall not only won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but it also solidified her as a cultural phenomenon. The role introduced fans to her offbeat, fly-by-night energy and iconic style of men’s pants, vests, and ties, a look that would be hers for life.
Prior to her ascension to fame, Keaton’s enthusiasm for performing was inspired by her mother, a homemaker and amateur photographer who had won beauty contests like Mrs. Highland Park and Mrs. Los Angeles. Keaton reminisced on NPR’s Fresh Air in 2004 that witnessing her mother on stage instilled within her a passion for performing. Following her Broadway debut in Hair in the late 1960s, she first came to public attention for standing firm against performing nude in the show at a cost of a $50 bonus, a choice that was indicative of her independent nature and strong sense of self.
She made her film debut in The Godfather (1972), playing Kay Adams, moral compass and eventual wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone. Keaton reprised the role in The Godfather Part II and Part III, establishing her dramatic range and position as one of cinema’s upper tier. During the 1970s, she appeared opposite Woody Allen in a number of his films, including Play It Again, Sam (1972) and Sleeper (1973), but it was Annie Hall (1977) that established her signature performance.
Keaton followed up her string of praised performances with 1977’s Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Warren Beatty’s Reds (1981), for which she received yet another Oscar nod. By the late 1980s, she was a star at home on the strength of Baby Boom (1987), in which she starred as a ruthless ad exec suddenly forced into motherhood. The movie highlighted her gift for blending humor with genuine emotional depth.
The 1990s again saw career peak with The First Wives Club (1996), where she co-starrred with Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn. The movie turned into a feminist cult classic as well as a box office success, grossing more than $181 million in the United States. In 1996, she also earned her third Oscar nomination for Marvin’s Room, co-starring Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio, in which she acted as a woman befriending her estranged sister during illness and family turmoil.
Throughout the 2000s, Keaton’s career remained prosperous. She co-starred with Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves in the romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give (2003), earning her fourth Academy Award nomination. In The Family Stone (2005), she portrayed the loving but multifaceted matriarch of an extended family, receiving praise from critics once more.
Keaton did not ever let up. Her more recent projects included Morning Glory (2010), Book Club (2018) with Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen, and the 2023 sequel. In 2024, she starred in Summer Camp with Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard, infusing a new generation with her trademark warmth. She also had a number of future projects in the works, such as a film starring Blake Lively and Richard Gere.
Behind the camera, Keaton was equally gifted. She directed the poignant 1995 film Unstrung Heroes, the 2000 comedy Hanging Up, and worked as producer or executive producer on many films, including the 2023 romantic comedy Maybe I Do. Her directorial style exhibited her sharp wit, emotional intelligence, and skills in balancing humor and poignancy.
Keaton’s private life was as distinctive as her professional one. Strongly independent, she never wed, frequently referencing her mother’s sacrifices as the reason. “She put family ahead of her aspirations,” Keaton would say in a 2021 Interview Magazine article. “I didn’t want to sacrifice my independence.” Nonetheless, she continued with a smile, “No one ever proposed to me either, so perhaps that is the true reason.
At age 50, Keaton welcomed two adopted children, her daughter Dexter and her son Duke, whom she frequently said were her greatest source of joy. In a 2005 interview with Life Magazine, she matter-of-factly discussed motherhood and stated, “Before kids, if I worried, it was only about myself, but that’s all you do as a parent, worry without letting them know you’re worried.”
Even in her advanced age, Keaton was full of awe and thankfulness. “At this age, everything seems more astonishing,” she informed AARP Magazine at age 69. “There’s a magical aspect to being on this planet.”
With her death, Hollywood loses not only an actress but a personality who redefined the definition of being an actress, funny, stylish, bold, and unapologetic. Diane Keaton’s legacy will be remembered through her iconic performances, her impact on the generations of performers, and the lasting influence she had on American cinema.
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