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

Diane Keaton smiling in Father of the Bride Part II
(Image credit: Buena Vista)

Diane Keaton, the woman who served as our partial eyes and ears into the Corleone family in The Godfather, and the Oscar winner for Best Actress in 1977 for her role in the comedy Annie Hall, has passed away at the age of 79.

People confirmed today that the actress passed away in California, leaving behind an incredible career marked by iconic roles, many of which have become comedy classics. Besides her award-winning turn in Annie Hall, Keaton also starred opposite Steve Martin and Martin Short in the Father of the Bride films, as well as sharing the screen with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler in The First Wives Club, to name a few.

Following the announcement, Midler took to Instagram saying, “The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. 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!”

Nevertheless, years later, Keaton couldn't help but ask her former director, Francis Ford Coppola, why he had hired her (via Vanity Fair). “I chose you, because although you were to play the more straight/vanilla wife," he said. "There was something more about you, deeper, funnier, and very interesting. (I was right).”

Nick Staniforth
Contributing Writer

Nick is a freelancer whose work can be found at Screen Rant, The Digital Fix, and Looper. He loves movies, TV, DC, and Marvel. He also believes that the best Robin Hood is still a talking fox.

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