by Alireza Hatamvand
Woody Allen, in his autobiography Apropos of Nothing, begins the story of how his passionate period with Diane Keaton started:
We’re all sitting in the theater waiting for Keaton to audition. In walks a lanky young girl. Let me put it this way: If Huckleberry Finn had been a very beautiful woman, that’s who was up there onstage. Keaton, who apologizes for waking up in the morning, a rube from Orange County, denizen of swap meets and tuna melts; an emigrant to Manhattan who came here and works as a coat-check girl, who had worked the candy concession in a movie house in Orange County and was fired for eating all the candy herself, tried making the few obligatory hello lines to us all. This was a yokel who spoke of her Grammy Hall, the boarder George who got a free turkey from his union every Christmas, and answered compliments with “Honest injun?” But what can I tell you, she was great. Great in every way. One talks about a personality that lights up a room, she lit up a boulevard. Adorable, funny, totally original in style, real, fresh. When she left we knew we had to go through the other scheduled actresses, but in our minds she had the part.
Yes, this was the beginning of Diane Keaton’s brilliant career.
First of all, her real name at birth was Diane Hall. She chose the name Diane Keaton when entering the acting world; according to the rules of the actors’ union at the time, which prevented two actors from registering with the same name – Diane Hall was already taken.
From her teenage years, she had a strong connection with the arts. She studied acting at university. Her first official role was an understudy part in the Broadway musical Hair in 1968. But her more formal entry can be considered the play Play It Again, Sam by Woody Allen. She was recommended to Woody Allen and the play’s director, Joseph Hardy, by a famous acting coach in New York, and as you read above, she completely won their hearts. This play, which later became a film starring Diane herself, was perhaps even more important than winning her a prestigious theatre acting award: it marked the beginning of Woody Allen’s passionate and romantic relationship with Diane—a relationship both have always spoken of fondly.
However, what introduced Diane Keaton properly to cinema was The Godfather. In Francis Ford Coppola’s film, she played Kay Adams-Corleone—a role she reprised two years later in The Godfather Part II and 20 years later in The Godfather Part III. Her performance in the first two installments received mixed reviews from critics, but The Godfather had already done its work — Diane was now a world-class actress, with, let’s say, a bonus of an on-and-off relationship with Al Pacino.
In the 1970s, Diane’s collaboration with Woody Allen really hit its stride. She appeared in six of his films during that decade. Many people assume that these consecutive projects happened while they were romantically involved, but that’s not the case. Their relationship had basically ended around the time filming for the first Godfather began, though they remained close friends. Those ’70s collaborations included Play It Again, Sam (which Allen wrote but didn’t direct), Sleeper, Love and Death, Interiors, Manhattan, and, of course, the most significant one for both Diane and Woody — Annie Hall.
After filming and editing, Woody Allen considered various titles for the film, all of which were rejected by the studio. Suddenly, one name came to his mind: Annie Hall! Hall was Diane’s original family name. And it was placed on a film that was certainly not a complete mirror of Diane and Woody’s relationship; unlike the events in the movie, according to Woody, they never argued in real life. Yet some of Annie Hall’s characteristics are exactly the things that everyone says about Diane, and the role cannot be considered far removed from her.
Annie Hall was a historical hit. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and, of course, Best Actress in a Leading Role. It was loved by almost all critics and became a defining, iconic movie in the world of comedy, especially romantic comedy. Woody Allen may have been the mastermind, but who could guarantee that the film would even exist without his passionate love for Diane, and the memories that they shared?
The 1980s began for Diane with a role in Reds, written and directed by Warren Beatty. Soon, Beatty joined the list of Diane’s high-profile partners. They had a relatively brief relationship, which, like all of Diane’s relationships, left behind a lasting friendship and warmth. This collaboration also earned her another Oscar nomination.
The rest of the 1980s remained bright Keaton, with another Woody Allen film, Radio Days, and several others, the most notable being Shoot the Moon and Crimes of the Heart. By the end of this decade, Diane had become a star upon whom even a Hollywood film could rely.
The 1990s kicked off with her role in the final Godfather Part III. Her Woody Allen credit in this decade was Manhattan Murder Mystery. She ended up taking a role that was originally meant for Mia Farrow—who, after a public and controversial split from Allen, stepped away, leaving the part for Diane. And she absolutely shined in it, earning a Golden Globe nomination! Other important roles in this decade included Father of the Bride Part I and Part II, The First Wives Club, and Marvin’s Room, for which she also received an Oscar nomination.
In the 21st century, she was far from idle, but she had already played her best roles. Even a successful film like Something’s Gotta Give, which brought her a second Golden Globe after Annie Hall, did not surpass the roles of previous decades. Yet, like her friend Woody, she did not believe in retirement and acted in nearly a film or series every year, with Summer Camp in 2024 her final role at age 78.
Of course, Keaton’s activities were not limited to acting. Woody Allen had seen from the start that she had potential for everything, even getting her to consult on editing his films.
In the 21st century, Keaton wrote four books, produced the school shooting themed film Elephant directed by Gus Van Sant, interior design, and participated in social campaigns.
Nothing more will be added to this list. Diane Keaton left us on 11 October 2025. Yet we will never forget how, in her first conversation with Alvy Singer in Annie Hall, she quickly became emotional and then innocently began to scold herself aloud, sweetly saying: La-dee-da, la-dee-da, la la. Farewell, Annie Hall.
