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Diane Keaton, Oscar-winning star of ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘The Godfather,’ dies at 79

49 4
12.10.2025

Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning star of “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather” films and “Father of the Bride,” whose quirky, vibrant manner and depth made her one of the most singular actors of a generation, has died. She was 79.

People Magazine reported Saturday that she died in California with loved ones, citing a family spokesperson. No other details were immediately available, and representatives for Keaton did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press.

Rizzoli, a publishing company that released several of Keaton’s books, confirmed her death in a statement, calling her an “icon whose influence spanned film, fashion, and design.”

Across a prolific career, Keaton was known for long-running collaborations with two prominent Jewish filmmakers, Woody Allen and Nancy Meyers. 1977’s “Annie Hall,” for which Keaton won an Oscar, is considered a classic of American Jewish humor.

The unexpected news of her death was met with shock around the world.

“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was…oh, la, lala!” Bette Midler said in a post on Instagram. She and Keaton co-starred in “The First Wives Club.”

Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in that necktie, bowler hat, vest, and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family in “The Godfather.

Her star-making performances in the 1970s, many of which were in Allen’s films, were not a flash in the pan either, and she would continue to charm new generations for decades thanks in part to her longstanding collaboration with Meyers.

She played a businessperson who unexpectedly inherits an infant in “Baby Boom,” the mother of the bride in the beloved remake of “Father of the Bride,” a newly single woman in “The First Wives Club,” and a divorced playwright who gets involved with Jack Nicholson’s music executive in “Something’s Gotta........

© The Times of Israel