Oscar-winning actress dies aged 79 as Goldie Hawn leads tributes

Goldie Hawn, Steve Martin and Ben Stiller have led tributes to Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton, who has died at the age of 79.

Keaton, who was born in Los Angeles, shot to fame in the 1970s through her role as Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather films.

She was also known for starring roles in films including Father of the Bride, First Wives Club and Annie Hall, which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1978.

Fellow First Wives Club co-star Goldie Hawn said Keaton left “a trail of fairy dust, filled with particles of light and memories beyond imagination”.

Writing on Instagram, Hawn said: “How do we say goodbye? What words can come to mind when your heart is broken? You never liked praise, so humble, but now you can’t tell me to ‘shut up’ honey. There was, and will be, no one like you.”

Keaton died in California on Saturday, a family spokesperson told People magazine, which first reported the news.

Producer and friend of Keaton, Dori Rath, confirmed the actress’s death to the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.

Paying tribute, her other First Wives Club co-star Bette Midler wrote on Instagram: “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!”

Steve Martin, who starred with Keaton in Father of the Bride alongside Martin Short, reposted part of a magazine article where Short asks: “Who’s sexier, me or Steve Martin?”

Keaton replies: “I mean, you’re both idiots.”

Martin said: “Don’t know who first posted this, but it sums up our delightful relationship with Diane.”

Actor Ben Stiller paid tribute on X, writing: “Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors ever. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person.”

Director Paul Feig said on X he had been “honoured” to call Keaton a friend, adding: “She was an amazingly kind and creative person who also just happened to be a Hollywood legend”, adding that she had “been taken far too soon”.

And The Book Club co-star Jane Fonda said on Instagram that Fonda was a “spark of life and light”

For Annie Hall, Keaton also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Motion Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Keaton was nominated for three further Oscars – all in the best actress category – for her work in Something’s Gotta Give, Marvin’s Room and Reds.

Throughout her more than five-decade career, Keaton starred in dozens of other films including The Family Stone, Because I Said So, And So It Goes, as well as a number of other Woody Allen films, like Play It Again, Sam, Sleeper, Love and Death and Manhattan.

Keaton made her film debut in the 1970 romantic comedy Lovers and Other Strangers. Her most recent film was the 2024 comedy Summer Camp where she starred alongside Eugene Levy and Kathy Bates.

Keaton also directed several films, the first of which was a 1987 documentary, Heaven, chronicling people’s beliefs about the afterlife. Her 1995 film Unstrung Heroes – a comedy-drama starring Andie MacDowell, John Turturro and Michael Richards – was selected for Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard, which showcases unique stories by emerging directors.

Most recently, Keaton directed Hanging Up in 2000, a comedy-drama starring herself, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow.

Both in her film roles and in her personal life, Keaton was known for her unique style, which often featured menswear and a wide-brimmed hat.

She never married and had two adopted children – a daughter, Dexter, and a son, Duke.

In her 2011 autobiography, titled Then Again, Keaton wrote: “I have assessed my happiness ratio and this is the result. I am totally content whenever the ones I love are happy about something little, big, insignificant, whatever.

“I just don’t think anyone could possibly have the same wonderful, intense, compelling feelings that I have for this family of mine.”