Diane Keaton 1946-2025
Celebrity deaths hit us in different ways. Some don’t hit us at all because while we were aware of the person we might not have known much about their work or not liked what we did know. Such was the case of me with the deaths of people like Paul Walker and Kurt Cobain.
The age of the decedent can also matter. The death of someone in their nineties is sad but feels inevitable, but someone who was in their twenties feels tragic.
Our feelings vary based on how much we knew of the person outside of their work. Sometimes we feel a connection to a celebrity perhaps because we’ve seen so much of their work or because we’ve “gotten to know” the person through articles, interviews, podcasts and the like.
Last month I was saddened enough by Robert Redford’s death to write about it on this blog. I’d been seeing him in films since I was a teenager and he was in several pictures that meant a lot to me. Besides, he was a good all-around chap whose politics aligned with mine.
But that pain was minimal compared to how I felt yesterday when I learned that Diane Keaton had died. In a post from April 2023 I wrote about my favorite actresses and named Ms. Keaton my favorite of the second half of the 20th century.
Last night the missus and I watched her Oscar-winning performance in Annie Hall (1977) Allen. (No idea how many times I've watched Annie Hall but it must be close to or over twenty). It was a brilliant performance and I’ve always been impressed that the Academy rewarded her for a role in a comedy. But she brought such depth and humanity to the role, a genuineness and charming eccentricity and style. She was sexy, lovable, cute, nerdy, fun and wise all in one role. I remember a friend once complaining that she got an Oscar for essentially playing herself. And is that easy? Even for a professional actor? I don’t think so. Besides, despite their similarities, Diane Keaton and Annie Hall were not the same person.
Ms.Keaton brought a different vibe to another Woody Allen film, Manhattan. Here she was far more worldly, cynical, overbearing yet at times vulnerable. A woman searching for her true self and true love and stepping on toes along the way. Manhattan is an interesting movie because it’s a comedy with dramatic elements or a drama with comedic bits. Actors will tell you that doing the comedy bits is tougher. Diane Keaton was a master at it. She excelled in comedic roles for Allen in pictures like Play it Again, Sam, Sleeper, Love and Death and Manhattan Murder Mystery (a vastly underrated film). Yet she was also the wife of Mafia Boss Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2. She was never impressed with her performances in those films and felt she was miscast. I think most filmgoers disagree. I’d go so far to say that she was perfect for the part. Ms. Keaton captured the post World War II trustingly naive young wife. But she also embodied the woman who's seen enough, has her internal come to Jesus moment and splits.
Around the time she made Annie Hall Ms. Keaton was in a very different film, Looking For Mr. Goodbar (19770 R Brooks, is dark, psychological drama about a woman in a continual search for sexual partners. It's not an easy watch but through Ms. Keaton's performance it is accessible. The film was flawed but her performance was not.
One of her greatest roles was in Reds (1981) Beatty, in which she played journalist and activist Louise Bryant opposite Warren Beatty’s John Reed. It was a demanding role in a long movie and she was excellent throughout more than holding her own opposite such powerhouses as Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton. It’s difficult now to think of Louise Bryant without imagining Diane Keaton. She was the strong-willed feminist who could love deeply and earnestly amid the incredible political tumult that she was both reporting and influencing.
Diane Keaton was a film star. Sure she was a terrific actress, yes she was beautiful. But more than that she seemed relatable and fun. Men would picture her in bed, but they could also imagine having a long chat in a cafe over coffee. Browsing in a bookstore with her. Laughing with her. Maybe that’s the key. Sure you’d want to make love to her, but you felt you could also look forward to long, loud belly laughs together. Beautiful but accessible. Sexy and funny. Diane Keaton defied labels. She was more her own person than ninety-nine percent of the actresses in Hollywood have ever been.
You could watch her opposite Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Warren Beatty and any other actor lucky enough to share the screen with her. One of a kind. She seemed perfect and it’s unimaginable that she’s no longer in this world. We are so much poorer for her absence.
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