FILE - Oscar winners Charles H. Joffe, winner of best picture for "Annie Hall," left, and Diane Keaton, winner of best actress for "Annie Hall," poses with presenter Jack Nicholson, and producer Jack Rollins at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on April 3, 1978.
FILE - Amanda Peet, from left, Jack Nicholson, and Diane Keaton appear during a photocall for their film "Something's Gotta Give" at the 54th Berlinale International film festival in Berlin on Feb. 6, 2004.
FILE - Goldie Hawn, from left, Diane Keaton, and Bette Midler appear at the premiere of their film "The First Wives Club" in Los Angeles on Sept.16, 1996.
FILE - Oscar winners Charles H. Joffe, winner of best picture for "Annie Hall," left, and Diane Keaton, winner of best actress for "Annie Hall," poses with presenter Jack Nicholson, and producer Jack Rollins at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on April 3, 1978.
Uncredited - AP
FILE - Amanda Peet, from left, Jack Nicholson, and Diane Keaton appear during a photocall for their film "Something's Gotta Give" at the 54th Berlinale International film festival in Berlin on Feb. 6, 2004.
Jan Bauer - AP
FILE - Diane Keaton attends the Ralph Lauren Spring/Summer 2024 collection during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 8, 2023.
Evan Agostini - Invision
FILE - Goldie Hawn, from left, Diane Keaton, and Bette Midler appear at the premiere of their film "The First Wives Club" in Los Angeles on Sept.16, 1996.
never really played the part of glamorous movie star. She was in iconic films and she dated some of the biggest stars of her generation, and yet she somehow remained other and defiantly herself despite so many years working in the Hollywood system. Eccentric and approachable, with a sort of effervescent charm, it鈥檚 no surprise that she played muse to so many, from to
People often describe her as self-deprecating, as if it was a choice and not a product of deep-seated insecurity. Keaton was someone who thought herself ugly, who battled eating disorders and who never seemed to give herself enough credit for her successes. But she was also able to channel that into her performances spanning five decades unlike none other.
There are so many Keaton films worth noting, including her full run with Allen. There are the Instagram favorites like 鈥淭he First Wives Club鈥 (available to rent), nostalgic classics like 鈥淔ather of the Bride鈥 (streaming on Hulu) and dramatic turns in 鈥淢arvin鈥檚 Room鈥 (streaming on Kanopy) and 鈥淪hoot the Moon鈥 (available to rent).
Here are six essential roles to get you started.
鈥淭he Godfather鈥 (1972)
Kay Adams, the future Mrs. Corleone, could have been a wallpaper role. But Keaton, in her breakout role, held the screen next to her flashier counterparts. She was the wife who had something going on behind her eyes, who could hold the screen in the chilling final shot of the first film. Social media doesn鈥檛 often produce anything worthwhile but in 2023 Francis Ford Coppola and Keaton had an exchange on an Instagram story 鈥渁sk me anything鈥 session. She wondered why he鈥檇 picked her.
鈥淚 chose you, because although you were to play the more straight/vanilla wife, there was something more about you, deeper, funnier, and very interesting. (I was right),鈥 Coppola wrote.
WHERE TO WATCH: Available to rent on various platforms including Prime Video.
鈥淎nnie Hall鈥 (1977)
鈥淟a-dee-da, la-dee-da鈥 where to even begin with 鈥淎nnie Hall?鈥 It is the quintessential Keaton role, a love-letter to her quirks, eccentricities, insecurities and charm all wrapped up in this fictional tie-wearing WASP from Chippewa Falls.
Allen encouraged her to wear what she wanted to wear, and so she assembled her iconic outfit 鈥 khaki pants, vest, tie 鈥 from 鈥渃ool-looking women on the streets of New York.鈥 The hat was lifted from actor Aurore Clement.
鈥淣o one had any serious expectations. We were just having a good time moving through New York鈥檚 landmark locations,鈥 she wrote in her memoir. 鈥淎s always, Woody concerned himself with worries about the script. Was it too much like an episode of 鈥楾he Mary Tyler Moore Show鈥? I told him he was nuts. Relax.鈥
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Fubo TV.
鈥淟ooking for Mr. Goodbar鈥 (1977)
Keaton鈥檚 OTHER great film from 1977 drifted into cult classic status as it wasn鈥檛 released on home video or DVD and has only recently been made available on digital platforms. The part of Theresa Dunn makes Annie Hall look like a nun. With her Catholic upbringing and 鈥済ood girl鈥 job teaching deaf children by day, at night Theresa cruises bars looking for men to hook up with 鈥 the more dangerous (like Richard Gere鈥檚 character) the better.
WHERE TO WATCH: Available to rent on various platforms.
鈥淩eds鈥 (1981)
Warren Beatty directed, produced, co-wrote and starred in this historical epic about the journalists documenting the Bolshevik Revolution alongside Keaton, playing journalist and activist Louise Bryant. They were dating by the time they started making the film and their relationship curdled during production.
鈥淓veryone knew I didn鈥檛 take well to Warren鈥檚 direction,鈥 she wrote in her memoir. 鈥淚t was impossible to work with a perfectionist who shot 40 takes per setup. Sometimes it felt like I was being stun-gunned. Even now I can鈥檛 say my performance is my own. It was more like a reaction to Warren 鈥 that鈥檚 what it was: a response to the effect of Warren Beatty.鈥
WHERE TO WATCH: Streaming on Kanopy.
鈥淏aby Boom鈥 (1987)
In this comedy from Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, Keaton plays a Manhattan yuppie who unexpectedly inherits a 14-month-old and begins to reassess her life, eventually moving to Vermont where she meets a veterinarian played by peak handsome Sam Shepard. An ahead-of-its-time commentary on the have-it-all discourse of the next 30 years, Roger Ebert wrote at the time that 鈥溾橞aby Boom鈥 makes no effort to show us real life. It is a fantasy about mothers and babies and sweetness and love, with just enough wicked comedy to give it an edge.鈥
WHERE TO WATCH: Available to rent on various platforms.
鈥淪omething鈥檚 Gotta Give鈥 (2003)
Oh Erica Barry and her fabulous Hamptons home and ivory turtleneck sweaters. This was purely the brainchild of Meyers, the writer-director who had the glorious idea to make a 50-something woman the object of desire in a mainstream romantic comedy. Keaton plays this brilliant playwright who catches the eye of both an older playboy (Jack Nicholson) with a proclivity for much younger women and a young, handsome doctor (Keanu Reeves). Keaton has called it her favorite movie, in part because she got to kiss Nicholson (who she had acted alongside before, in 鈥淩eds鈥) 鈥渂ecause it was so unexpected at age 57.鈥
WHERE TO WATCH: Available to rent on various platforms.
Sign up for our Daily Update & Weekend Update email newsletters!
Get the latest news, sports, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.
Featured Local Savings
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
