Diane Keaton, an Academy Award-winning actress with a long list of high-profile film roles but who might be most identified with the quirky title character in Annie Hall—a part based on her relationship with Woody Allen—has died. A family spokesperson said Keaton died on Saturday in California without providing more details, People reports. She was 79. Other films included The Godfather, Reds, Something's Gotta Give, Father of the Bride, and Baby Boom. Keaton also sparked a late '70s fashion trend with the wide-brimmed hats, men's shirts, ties and vests that she wore in Annie Hall, and made an impact with her "la-dee-da, la-dee-da" musing, a persona that wasn't limited to the screen. When accepting the Oscar in 1978, per the AP, Keaton laughed and told the audience, "This is something."
She was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles and decided on acting as a 6-year-old, when she watched her mother win the "Mrs. Los Angeles" title in a pageant for homemakers, per the Hollywood Reporter. Keaton began with small stage parts in New York before winning a part in Allen's Play It Again, Sam, which brought her a Tony nomination. She remembered landing a commercial for Hour After Hour deodorant in 1970 as consequential. "That was the biggest job I ever had at the time," Keaton said. "That sealed the deal."
After her film debut in Lovers and Other Strangers, she won the part of Michael Corleone's girlfriend in The Godfather; the characters later married. She played opposite Al Pacino but first had to get over being "terrified" that director Francis Ford Coppola had cast her when she hadn't even read the script before auditioning. "I kept thinking, 'Why me? Why would he cast me?'" she later said. "I didn't understand it. I still don't, really." Keaton starred in the wrenching Looking for Mr. Goodbar, a role that brought her critical praise and may have influenced her Oscar selection for Annie Hall, which was released the same year, the New York Times points out.
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She won a series of honors after her Oscar-winning role in Annie Hall, playing a character the Times describes as "a single woman in New York City with ambitions, insecurities and definite style" known for "cheerful psychiatric breakthroughs." The Reporter's review called Keaton "the consummate actress of our generation." She appeared in other Allen films, though they were no longer a couple. In real life, Keaton also had relationships with costars Pacino and Warren Beatty. "Talent is so damn attractive," she once told People.
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