Diane Keaton’s Life in Photos

Diane Keaton’s Early Days

Diane Keaton (born Diane Hall) was born January 5, 1946 in Los Angeles, California.

“I always had one problem with my mom: She would cut my bangs way too short. I hated that. I look like an idiot. I like those glasses though. I could use them now,” she told PEOPLE in 2017 about this photo, during a retrospective of her career.

Diane Keaton Growing Up

“In high school I was consumed by hairspray,” she told PEOPLE in 2017. “I refused to be in the wind. I look like an idiot.”

After graduating high school, Keaton studied acting at Santa Ana College before transferring to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, per the school’s website.

Diane Keaton’s Broadway Debut in ‘Hair’

Before her film career took off, Keaton made her acting debut in the original Broadway cast of Hair in 1968. Here, Keaton performs between Suzannah Norstrand and Natalie Mosco with Emmaretta Marks, Melba Moore and Lorri Davis singing above them.

Diane Keaton in ‘The Godfather’

Keaton’s first screen credit would come with 1970’s Lovers and Other Strangers — though her breakout role was in 1972’s The Godfather where she played Kay Adams-Corleone, the wife of Al Pacino’s character (she later reprised the role in the 1974 and 1990 sequels).

Keaton counts Pacino among her “many loves;” the two found romance off-screen though never wed. As she recalled to PEOPLE, when he wouldn’t commit to marriage, she gave him an ultimatum, and it was over: “I worked hard on that one. I went about it in not a perfect way.”

Diane Keaton in ‘Annie Hall’

Keaton’s performance in 1977’s Annie Hall would win her an Oscar for best actress. It was the fourth of the eight Woody Allen films she has been featured in.

“Of course my favorite is the obvious one,” she told PEOPLE of Annie Hall. “Woody didn’t know if it would work. He didn’t trust it — he’d say ‘It’s just another sitcom.’ ”

Diane Keaton Wins an Oscar

“I keep it in my closet. I don’t want to put it on display, it’s silly! Enough already, Diane, we know,” Keaton (with Richard Dreyfuss, who won that year for The Goodbye Girl) told PEOPLE of her prestigious award, which she took home in 1978.

Diane Keaton in ‘Manhattan’

Keaton starred alongside Allen in his 1979 film Manhattan. In addition to being frequent collaborators, the two also had a romantic relationship for a time and remained close friends ever since.

Diane Keaton’s Relationship with Warren Beatty

Keaton’s five-year relationship with Warren Beatty (in 1978) made costarring with him in 1981’s Reds, which he directed, interesting. “There’s a scene where we’re fighting,” she told PEOPLE, “that felt really real.”

Diane Keaton in ‘Shoot the Moon’

“That picture is disgusting!” Keaton told PEOPLE of this still from 1982’s Shoot the Moon, about a divorcing couple. “Those skinny legs and arms flopping around! I’d forgotten about that movie. But [costar] Albert Finney is great.”

Diane Keaton in ‘Baby Boom’

In 1987’s Baby Boom, Keaton played a businesswoman who unexpectedly becomes the caretaker to a baby girl.

“If I was the mother, I wouldn’t have been happy about the way I tossed those babies around!” Keaton said of the film. “But they were adorable.”

Diane Keaton and Nancy Meyers

Keaton was not only a muse for Woody Allen; she also has starred in a number of Nancy Meyers movies, including Father of the Bride and 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give alongside Jack Nicholson (pictured).

“It was awkward,” Keaton said of shooting the sex scene in the film. “But he was hilarious. We spent a lot of time in bed chatting away.”

Diane Keaton as a Mom

Keaton welcomed son Duke Keaton and daughter Dexter Keaton via adoption when she was in her 50s — and at her 2022 Hand and Footprint Ceremony, she told PEOPLE her children’s support means “everything…I love them.”

The star never married, despite dating stars including Woody Allen, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Al Pacino in the past (though she has said she hasn’t had a date in the last 35 years). But she has no regrets.

“I’m 73 and I think I’m the only one in my generation and maybe before who has been a single woman all her life,” she told PEOPLE. “I don’t think it would have been a good idea for me to have married, and I’m really glad I didn’t.”

Diane Keaton in ‘The Young Pope’

Keaton has also appeared on the small screen, including in the 2016 miniseriesThe Young Pope alongside Jude Law.

“The director would say to me, ‘Don’t smile so much, and stop waving your arms around,’ ” Keaton said of her role in the series. “I don’t think that’s what nuns are known for.”

Diane Keaton at the American Film Institute Gala

In 2017, Keaton was awarded a Life Achievement Award at the American Film Institute’s gala.

“I’m honored,” Keaton told PEOPLE before the awards ceremony, “but it’s all too much for me. I’m just sitting there, with all those people in that room … it’s like a retirement party.”

Diane Keaton Leaves Her Mark

In August 2022, Keaton was honored with a Hand and Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

She was supported by friends and family at the ceremony including her two children and younger sister Dorrie Hall.

“It was just one of those things in your life where you just don’t expect it and then suddenly it comes your way. And then it’s like, wow,” Keaton told PEOPLE of the ceremony. “I was thrilled, of course. And I still am. And to be here today is also great because I’m not frequently inside this theater and I love this theater.”

Diane Keaton’s Legacy

In the wake of her death October 11, fans and colleagues reflected on Keaton’s lasting body of work — both as an actress in films as varied as Marvin’s Room and The First Wives Club, as well as an artist and collector who wrote books, loved architecture, created home collections and was a muse for many directors and designers, who were inspired by her inimitable style. She received multiple Oscar nominations in addition to her win, took home a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 2017 and earned multiple Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations besides.

But in Keaton’s own words to PEOPLE in 2019, she didn’t feel that she was looking back at her legacy, but rather, always still learning. “I don’t know anything, and I haven’t learned,” she said in her typical self-deprecating manner. “Getting older hasn’t made me wiser.”