Diane Keaton has passed away: what will we remember about the legendary actress?

Legendary American actress Diane Keaton has died at the age of 79 in California, reports Air force citing various sources. Edition Medusa recalls the actress's most iconic works.

The cause of Diane Keaton's death is unknown, but according to the press, the actress has not appeared in public in recent months.

Keaton, born in 1946 in Los Angeles, rose to fame in the 70s when she began collaborating with Woody Allen. In 1977, she won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Annie Hall.

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Her other major role was as Michael Corleone's wife in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, starring Al Pacino; she also reprised this role in the film's two sequels.

Keaton was nominated for an Oscar for her roles in Reds (1981), Marvin's Room (1996), and Something's Gotta Give (2003).

She has also starred in a number of films and TV series, including Finding Dory, Book Club, The Family Stone, Because I Said So, and others.

An icon of style, humor and comedy

Despite rumors of affairs with Hollywood colleagues, Diane Keaton has never been married.

The actress adopted two children: a girl, Dexter, in 1996 (named after Cary Grant's character in The Philadelphia Story), and a boy, Duke, four years later.

"Motherhood has completely changed me," she said at the time.

Her co-star in The First Wives Club, Bette Midler, noted on Instagram: "The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I can't tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was incredibly funny, completely original, and completely without guile or any of the competitiveness you'd expect from such a star."

Actor Ben Stiller wrote on X: "Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actresses of all time. An icon of style, humor, and comedy. Brilliant. What a person!"

"In the gallery of New Hollywood actresses, Keaton always occupied a special place and transcended all categories," Meduza columnist Anton Dolin emphasized. "If you were to compile a list of her most celebrated roles, comedies would top it—but you couldn't call Keaton a character actress. Her characters were rarely funny in the simplest sense. Rather, they were distinguished by a surprising naturalness that began to transform the genre itself."

On the other hand, Keaton never fit the typical beauty mold. In fact, she consciously defied it time and again—from her breakthrough theatrical debut in the musical Hair, where she refused to disrobe onstage, to the almost scandalous rom-com Something's Gotta Give, in which she played a racy role at the age of 56. Around the same time, the actress, who had never officially married, adopted her second child.

It's impossible to ignore the conscious image choices that made Keaton a style icon in the 1970s and allowed her to remain so throughout her life. She was the first to wear men's turtlenecks, jackets, and ties. She also refused to hide her gray hair or undergo plastic surgery. It's hard not to admire the consistency of this behavior and her disdain for fashion or the status quo.

A measure of taste in choosing projects

Diane Keaton's work with Francis Ford Coppola was truly revolutionary, Anton Dolin continues: "Her Kay in The Godfather trilogy is much more than just 'the protagonist's companion.' Diane Keaton plays the lone outsider who, finding herself in the Corleone family, refuses to obey its laws and, as best she can, challenges the mafia's 'concepts' rooted in tribal customs and centuries-old patriarchy. This can be seen as yet another challenge—dramatic and acting—to the modest place women have traditionally occupied in American crime cinema. If one can find a conventionally 'positive' character in Coppola's monumental epic, it's Kay."

Diane Keaton played many roles, but never too many. A measure of taste was always evident in her choice of projects, which varied enormously in both artistic goals and value. From the relatively early film "Looking for Mr. Goodbar"—another revision of the melodrama—to the overtly political "Reds," from "Marvin's Room," where she seemed to pass the baton of New Hollywood to the next generation of actors and directors, to her landmark appearance in "The Young Pope," Keaton maintained her dignity and professional worth, refusing to rejuvenate or retire until the very end.

Director, producer, singer, photographer, journalist…

Diane Keaton was first and foremost an actress, but that never stopped her from trying herself in other capacities, writes Meduza: “From her youth, Keaton dreamed of a career as a singer—and she performed, recorded, and sang for the same Allen on ‘Radio Days.’”

She developed a passion for photography, which became much more than just a hobby: her photographs and albums earned critical praise for their conceptual originality.

Keaton was the face of L'Oréal and wrote columns for popular magazines; her memoirs reveal a literary talent. Diane managed to dabble in real estate professionally, notably selling a house to Madonna and helping restore Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, the Ennis House, in California (now a public museum).

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Keaton's film career wasn't limited to acting. Among other things, she produced what was arguably Gus Van Sant's best film, "Elephant," which earned the director the Palme d'Or.

Her directorial filmography includes the documentary "Heaven," about life after death (Keaton was an agnostic), and one of the best, most romantic, and darkest episodes of the second season of "Twin Peaks." Recalling its title, "Slaves and Masters," one can conclude that Diane Keaton was never a slave or hostage to the industry—she remained the master of her own destiny throughout her nearly sixty-year career.

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