Diane Keaton (1946-2025): A life of Beauty

The legendary Meryl Streep called Diane Keaton, another legend, a hummingbird, for her tendency to fly here, there and everywhere. The actor, beloved by audiences of all ages for her effortless acting and her unusual fashion sense, was indeed bird-like, but also substantial and singular. In a world where women fob off the insecurities of ageing by having work done on their faces and bodies, Keaton stood tall, growing into maturity with love and a lot of laughs.

She acted in several movies, usually as an independent-minded. emotionally present woman, but it was her role in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) which was her most iconic. With its walking and talking; her unusual way of making jackets and ties her own; and its openness about sex, it defined young women in the 70s. A California girl, she was forever hyphenated with Manhattan in everyone's mind.

If Nora Ephron had an actor avatar, it would be Keaton. Everything for her was copy, and there were few things she wasn't good at, whether it was restoring beautiful homes, photography, writing, or just living. She had extraordinary paramours, most of whom remained friends with her till the end, from Allen to Al Pacino. But no one asked her to marry them, she said often.

She remained single through her life, making memorable cinema, teaching women to fly. 

In Something's Gotta Give (2003), a hilarious satire on ageing men and ageless women, she played a successful playwright who falls in love with her daughter's older playboy lover. Jack Nicholson and she were terrific together, but her chemistry with young doctor Keanu Reeves was not bad. 

She was the morally upright wife of Michael Corleone in Godfather (1972). the cuckolded but spirited wife of First Wives Club (1996), and the loving sister of the heartbreaking Marvin's Room (1996) with a young Leonardo Di Caprio. 

Her jackets and boots staple made her a viral fashion sensation late into the noughties, while her natural charm made her inhabit a series of well crafted parts.

She remained free spirited and free till the end, living on her own terms, dedicated to beauty. She was in her own Annie Hall words: la di da dii da.