Legendary Actress Diane Keaton Dead At 79: Report

Diane Keaton, the legendary actress known for her roles in movies like "The Godfather," "The First Wives Club" and "Something’s Gotta Give," has died, a family spokesperson confirmed to People. She was 79.

Keaton died at her home in California, according to People's report.

A family friend told People in a separate interview that the Oscar winner's health had declined in recent months.

"She declined very suddenly, which was heartbreaking for everyone who loved her,” the friend told People exclusively. “It was so unexpected, especially for someone with such strength and spirit."

Keaton was born Diane Hall in January 1946 in Los Angeles, though her family was not part of the film industry she would find herself in. Her mother was a homemaker and photographer, and her father was in real estate and civil engineering.

Keaton was drawn to theater and singing while in school in Santa Ana, and she dropped out of college after a year to make a go of it in Manhattan. Actors’ Equity already had a Diane Hall in their ranks, and she took Keaton, her mother’s maiden name, as her own.

She studied under Sanford Meisner in New York and has credited him with giving her the freedom to “chart the complex terrain of human behavior within the safety of his guidance. It made playing with fire fun.”

“More than anything, Sanford Meisner helped me learn to appreciate the darker side of behavior,” she wrote in her 2012 memoir, “Then Again.” “I always had a knack for sensing it but not yet the courage to delve into such dangerous, illuminating territory.”

In 1968, Woody Allen cast her in his Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam," for which she received a Tony nomination. That same year, Francis Ford Coppola cast her as Kay Corleone in the Oscar-winning film "The Godfather", and she reprised that role in the film's first sequel, "The Godfather: Part II." She then appeared with Allen again in "Sleeper" and "Love and Death".

Allen and the late Marshall Brickman gave Keaton one of her most iconic roles in “Annie Hall,” the infectious woman from Chippewa Falls whom Allen’s Alvy Singer cannot get over. The film is considered one of the great romantic comedies of all time, with Keaton’s eccentric, self-deprecating Annie at its heart.

In the New York Times, critic Vincent Canby wrote, “As Annie Hall, Miss Keaton emerges as Woody Allen’s Liv Ullman. His camera finds beauty and emotional resources that somehow escape the notice of other directors. Her Annie Hall is a marvelous nut.”

In the 1990s, she reprised the role of Kay Corleone in the third "Godfather" movie, and also appeared as the wife of Steve Martin in the hit "Father of the Bride" and again in "Father of the Bride Part II."

In the 2000s, Keaton returned to comedy with movies like "Hanging Up," which also starred Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow. Her first major hit since 1996 came in 2003's romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give," directed by Nancy Meyers and co-starring Jack Nicholson.

Keaton was also known for her performances in such films as Looking for "Mr. Goodbar" (1977), "Crimes of the Heart" (1986), "Baby Boom" (1987), "Father of the Bride" (1991), "The First Wives Club" (1996), "Marvin’s Room" (1996), "Something’s Gotta Give" (2003), "The Family Stone" (2005), "Book Club" (2018) and "Mack & Rita" (2022), according to Deadline.

Keaton made her directorial debut with the 1987 documentary "Heaven", which highlighted the possibility of an afterlife. She also directed an episode of "Twin Peaks" in 1991, according to Deadline, "Hanging Up" and several Belinda Carlisle music videos.

She was also a writer, photographer and singer, publishing the photo books "Reservations" (1980) and "Saved" (2022).

Keaton won dozens of awards throughout her acting career, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for "Annie Hall" and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical for "Something's Gotta Give."

Keaton, who never married, is survived by her two adopted children.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.