Biography
After rising to prominence through a string of successful Woody Allen comedies, Diane Keaton built a lasting film career as both performer and filmmaker. Born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, she trained at Manhattan’s Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater and served as understudy in the 1968 production of Hair. While performing on Broadway she encountered actor and director Allen, who cast her in his 1969 stage success Play It Again, Sam. Keaton entered motion pictures with the 1970 comedy Lovers and Other Strangers, then gained widespread recognition as the girlfriend of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in the 1972 blockbuster The Godfather. That year she and Allen—who had begun a romantic relationship off-screen—transferred Play It Again, Sam to the screen; Allen next directed her in the 1973 release Sleeper. The Godfather Part II and Allen’s Love and Death followed, each achieving substantial commercial success and positioning Keaton for stardom. When her subsequent projects, the 1976 comedies I Will, I Will for Now and Harry and Walter Go to New York, failed at the box office, she returned to the theater to headline The Primary English Class.
Allen’s fourth collaboration with Keaton, the 1977 film Annie Hall, offered a plainly autobiographical depiction of their actual relationship. The bittersweet, introspective comedy introduced greater emotional depth to the genre and earned the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Keaton received the Best Actress Oscar. In the same year she starred in the provocative drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Two further pictures with Allen appeared: the Bergman-esque Interiors in 1978 and the 1979 masterpiece Manhattan. After their separation, Keaton entered a relationship with Warren Beatty and co-starred with him in the 1981 epic Reds, earning a Best Actress nomination. She continued exploring dramatic material in 1982’s Shoot the Moon, then appeared in two commercial disappointments, The Little Drummer Girl and Mrs. Soffel. Crimes of the Heart registered modest success in 1986, and the following year Keaton made her directorial debut with the documentary Heaven.
Her next leading performance, in the 1987 domestic comedy Baby Boom, proved a major hit. Nearly a decade after their earlier work together, she and Allen reunited for Radio Days, in which she made a brief appearance as a singer. Following the poorly received 1988 drama The Good Mother, Keaton began dividing her energies between acting and directing. While appearing in such films as 1990’s The Godfather Part III, the 1991 hit Father of the Bride, and the 1992 telefilm Running Mates, she also directed music videos, the 1990 after-school special The Girl with the Crazy Brother, the 1991 television feature Wildflower, and an episode of the David Lynch series Twin Peaks. Replacing Mia Farrow, she joined Allen’s 1993 picture Manhattan Murder Mystery. Keaton portrayed the title character in the 1994 television biopic Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight and made her first feature-length directorial effort with the 1995 quirky drama Unstrung Heroes. After co-starring with Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn in the 1996 box-office success The First Wives Club, she earned another Academy Award nomination for Marvin’s Room and starred in the 1997 film The Only Thrill.
Allen’s fourth collaboration with Keaton, the 1977 film Annie Hall, offered a plainly autobiographical depiction of their actual relationship. The bittersweet, introspective comedy introduced greater emotional depth to the genre and earned the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Keaton received the Best Actress Oscar. In the same year she starred in the provocative drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Two further pictures with Allen appeared: the Bergman-esque Interiors in 1978 and the 1979 masterpiece Manhattan. After their separation, Keaton entered a relationship with Warren Beatty and co-starred with him in the 1981 epic Reds, earning a Best Actress nomination. She continued exploring dramatic material in 1982’s Shoot the Moon, then appeared in two commercial disappointments, The Little Drummer Girl and Mrs. Soffel. Crimes of the Heart registered modest success in 1986, and the following year Keaton made her directorial debut with the documentary Heaven.
Her next leading performance, in the 1987 domestic comedy Baby Boom, proved a major hit. Nearly a decade after their earlier work together, she and Allen reunited for Radio Days, in which she made a brief appearance as a singer. Following the poorly received 1988 drama The Good Mother, Keaton began dividing her energies between acting and directing. While appearing in such films as 1990’s The Godfather Part III, the 1991 hit Father of the Bride, and the 1992 telefilm Running Mates, she also directed music videos, the 1990 after-school special The Girl with the Crazy Brother, the 1991 television feature Wildflower, and an episode of the David Lynch series Twin Peaks. Replacing Mia Farrow, she joined Allen’s 1993 picture Manhattan Murder Mystery. Keaton portrayed the title character in the 1994 television biopic Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight and made her first feature-length directorial effort with the 1995 quirky drama Unstrung Heroes. After co-starring with Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn in the 1996 box-office success The First Wives Club, she earned another Academy Award nomination for Marvin’s Room and starred in the 1997 film The Only Thrill.
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