DIANE KEATON

Born Diane Hall
January 5, 1946 (age 69)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress, director, producer, writer
Years active 1968–present
Children 2

Diane Keaton (born Diane Hall; January 5, 1946) is an American film actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She began her career on stage and made her screen debut in 1970. Her first major film role was as Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather (1972), but the films that shaped her early career were those with director and co-star Woody Allen, beginning with Play It Again, Sam in 1972. Her next two films with Allen, Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975), established her as a comic actor. Her fourth, Annie Hall (1977), won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Keaton subsequently expanded her range to avoid becoming typecast as her Annie Hall persona. She became an accomplished dramatic performer, starring in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and received Academy Award nominations for Reds (1981), Marvin’s Room (1996) and Something’s Gotta Give (2003). Some of her popular later films include Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), The First Wives Club (1996), and The Family Stone (2005). Keaton’s films have earned a cumulative gross of over US$1.1 billion in North America. In addition to acting, she is also a photographer, real estate developer, author, and occasional singer.

Keaton was born as Diane Hall on January 5, 1946 in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Dorothy Deanne (née Keaton; 1921–2008), was a homemaker and amateur photographer; her father, John Newton Ignatius “Jack” Hall (1922–1990), was a real estate broker and civil engineer. Keaton was raised a Free Methodist by her mother. Her mother won the “Mrs. Los Angeles” pageant for homemakers; Keaton has said that the theatricality of the event inspired her first impulse to be an actress, and led to her wanting to work on stage. She has also credited Katharine Hepburn, whom she admires for playing strong and independent women, as one of her inspirations.

Keaton is a 1963 graduate of Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, California. During her time there, she participated in singing and acting clubs at school, and starred as Blanche DuBois in a school production of A Streetcar Named Desire. After graduation, she attended Santa Ana College, and later Orange Coast College as an acting student, but dropped out after a year to pursue an entertainment career in Manhattan. Upon joining the Actors’ Equity Association, she changed her surname to Keaton, her mother’s maiden name, as there was already an actress registered under the name of Diane Hall. For a brief time, she also moonlighted at nightclubs with a singing act. She would later revisit her nightclub act in Annie Hall (1977) and And So It Goes (2014), and a cameo in Radio Days (1987).

Keaton began studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. She initially studied acting under the Meisner technique, an ensemble acting technique first evolved in the 1930s by Sanford Meisner, a New York stage actor/acting coach/director who had been a member of The Group Theater (1931–1940). She has described her acting technique as, “only as good as the person you’re acting with … As opposed to going it on my own and forging my path to create a wonderful performance without the help of anyone. I always need the help of everyone!” According to Jack Nicholson, “She approaches a script sort of like a play in that she has the entire script memorized before you start doing the movie, which I don’t know any other actors doing that.”

In 1968, Keaton became a member of the “Tribe” and understudy to Sheila in the original Broadway production of Hair.  She gained some notoriety for her refusal to disrobe at the end of Act I when the cast performs nude, even though nudity in the production was optional for actors (Those who performed nude received a $50 bonus). After acting in Hair for nine months, she auditioned for a part in Woody Allen’s production of Play It Again, Sam. After nearly being passed over for being too tall (at 5 ft 8 in./1.73 m she is two inches/5 cm taller than Allen), she won the part.

Keaton has had several romantic associations with noted entertainment industry personalities starting with her time with the Broadway production of Play It Again, Sam when she auditioned for director Woody Allen. Their association became personal following a dinner after a late night rehearsal. It was her sense of humor that attracted Allen. They briefly lived together during the Broadway production but by the time of the film release of the same name in 1972 their living arrangements became informal. They worked together on eight films between 1971 and 1993, and Keaton has said that Allen remains one of her closest friends.

She was already dating Warren Beatty from 1979 when they had co-lead roles in the film Reds. Beatty was a regular subject in tabloid magazines and media coverage to which she was included much to her bewilderment. Her avoidance of the spotlight earned her in 1985 from Vanity Fair the attribution as “the most reclusive star since Garbo.” This relationship ended shortly after Reds wrapped. Troubles with the production are thought to have caused strain on the relationship, including numerous financial and scheduling problems. Keaton remains friends with Beatty.

Keaton also had a relationship with her The Godfather Trilogy costar Al Pacino. Their on-again, off-again relationship ended following the filming of The Godfather Part III. Keaton said of Pacino, “Al was simply the most entertaining man… To me, that’s, that is the most beautiful face. I think Warren was gorgeous, very pretty, but Al’s face is like whoa. Killer, killer face.”

In July 2001, Keaton revealed her thoughts on being older and unmarried: “I don’t think that because I’m not married it’s made my life any less. That old maid myth is garbage.” Keaton has two adopted children, daughter Dexter (adopted 1996) and son Duke (2001). Her father’s death made mortality more apparent to her, and she decided to become a mother at age 55. She later said of having children, “Motherhood has completely changed me. It’s just about the most completely humbling experience that I’ve ever had.”