Oscar-Winning Actress Diane Keaton Dies at 79

Keaton, best known for her roles in ‘The Godfather’ films, ‘Annie Hall,’ and ‘Father of the Bride,’ died Saturday in California.

Diane Keaton arrives at the world premiere of "Poms" in Los Angeles on May 1, 2019. Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File

Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton, best known for her roles in “The Godfather” films, “Father of the Bride,” and “Annie Hall,” has died at 79.

A family spokesperson confirmed to People Magazine that Keaton died on Oct. 11 in California surrounded by loved ones.

No further details on her death were provided, and Keaton’s family requested “privacy in this moment of great sadness.”

She is survived by her two children, daughter Dexter, 29, and son Duke, 25, whom she welcomed through adoption in her 50s.

Representatives for Keaton could not be reached for comment.

Timeless Career

Born Diane Hall in Los Angeles in 1946, Keaton developed an early love for theater and singing while in school in Santa Ana, California.

After attending college for one year, she dropped out to pursue her dreams in New York, where she studied under famed acting instructor Sanford Meisner.

“More than anything, Sanford Meisner helped me learn to appreciate the darker side of behavior,” she wrote in her 2012 memoir ”Then Again.”

“I always had a knack for sensing it but not yet the courage to delve into such dangerous, illuminating territory.”

Her first stage appearance was as an understudy to the lead in the Broadway production “Hair,” followed by a role in Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam” in 1968, for which she would later receive a Tony nomination.

Keaton rose to fame in the 1970s, landing more than 70 roles throughout film and television combined over the course of her career.

She made her film debut in the romantic comedy “Lovers and Other Strangers,” followed by her breakthrough role in 1972 in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather.”

She went on to reprise her role in the film’s sequels, “The Godfather Part II” and “The Godfather Part III.”

Keaton continued her collaborations with Allen, appearing in “Sleeper,” “Love and Death,” “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” and the film adaptation of “Play It Again, Sam.”

With 63 total nominations and 37 wins across multiple award shows, Keaton won the Oscar for Best Actress for “Annie Hall” and a Golden Globe for “Something’s Gotta Give.”

Keaton was also a passionate photographer, director, writer, and producer, but said she truly found love and purpose in her life when she became a mother.

“It’s given my life a real purpose that it never had before,” she told CBS News in a 2004 interview.

“I was very heavily involved in myself forever. And this changes the whole landscape of your life. Your whole point of view in a good way, in a nice way. ... I just think they are both miracles.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.