Diane Keaton pᴀssed away on October 11, 2025, and left behind a legacy of some of the best performances in movie history. The legendary actress began her career in 1966 and reached early fame as one of Woody Allen’s muses in his early masterpieces, Annie Hall and Manhattan. However, Keaton’s career was much larger than that.

Diane Keaton was a four-time Oscar nominee, winning for Annie Hall, and she also earned nine Golden Globe nominations, winning for Annie Hall and Something’s Gotta Give. She also made her name in smaller movies, such as the highly underrated holiday movie The Family Stone and the animated film Finding Dory.

Marvin’s Room (1996)

Diane Keaton’s third Oscar nomination came for her performance in the 1996 movie Marvin’s Room. In this film, she starred as Bessie, a woman who has been caring for her father since he suffered a stroke. However, when she learns she is dying, she tries to reconnect with her sister (Meryl Streep) one last time.

Keaton was excellent in her challenging role as a woman who had never been able to live her own life but who gave herself to her father, while her sister left and never looked back. However, it was her chemistry with the cast, including Streep as her sister and a young Leonardo DiCaprio as her nephew, that carried the story.

In addition to her Oscar nomination, Diane Keaton also received Critics’ Choice and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, though she didn’t take home any awards.

The First Wives Club (1996)

The First Wives Club was a 1996 comedy starring three incredible female leads, with Diane Keaton joined by Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn in the cast. The film features the three actresses as recently divorced women seeking revenge on their husbands, who left them for younger women.

The First Wives Club was a huge success, grossing $181 million at the box office, and much of that success was thanks to the three stars and their incredible chemistry. While Keaton had earned an Oscar nomination that same year for Marvin’s Room, she earned a nomination from the American Comedy Awards for this performance.

While the film mainly received lukewarm reviews, it was the fans who pushed it to become a hit, and much of that was thanks to the comedic timing of Keaton, Midler, and Hawn. Reviews praised the director for “getting out of the way” and letting these three women run free.

The Godfather (1972)

Diane Keaton’s role in the first Godfather movie was important, especially as one of the few women in the main cast. She played Kay Adams, Michael’s second wife and the mother of his two children. She is also very different from the other characters, a moral woman from a Protestant family, rather than a Catholic gangster.

This made her who the audience could look at Michael through, and see his eventual change from a war hero into a morally corrupt mafia don. Her love story and the eventual christening of their first baby were contrasted by her recognition that Michael was becoming his father in that final scene, when she looked at him through the doorway.

Kay was a smaller character, but she was very important and Diane Keaton ensured that she played the woman with the respect she deserved based on her place in this dark and ᴅᴇᴀᴅly world.

Looking For Mr. Goodbar (1977)

Looking for Mr. Goodbar was one of Diane Keaton’s most risqué roles and earned the actress her second Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, her first in the drama category. Keaton stars as a young school teacher who becomes a drug addict after starting a relationship with several different men.

This is a dark tragedy, as she makes several poor life choices that eventually force her to decide how she wants to live. When she finally decides that she needs to make a change, it is too late, and it is Keaton’s performance that makes that last-minute twist ending such a terrible tragedy.

Critics praised Keaton’s performance, calling her “fearless” and saying that her performance and the film’s ending will leave “audiences trembling.”

Manhattan (1979)

Manhattan wasn’t Diane Keaton’s best performance in a Woody Allen movie, but it was a fantastic performance nonetheless. Allen stars in the film as a twice-divorced comedy writer who is dating a 17-year-old (Mariel Hemingway), but eventually falls in love with his best friend’s mistress (Diane Keaton).

This might be Woody Allen’s best-directed movie, both in the way he shoots New York City in striking black-and-white and in the cast’s performances. Joining Allen and Keaton in the cast are some incredible actors, including Michael Murphy, Meryl Streep, and Anne Byrne. Keaton remains in top form throughout the entire film.

Critics gave the film a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and praised Allen’s tendency to mock himself. This also played into Keaton’s performance, as she portrayed the more sophisticated New York intellectual, always seeming just a little better than Allen deserved at every step.

Father of the Bride (1991)

Not all of Diane Keaton’s best performances came in award-nominated movies. In 1991, one of her most beloved roles came in the comedy Father of the Bride. The film stars Steve Martin as George Banks, a father who struggles to come to terms with his daughter’s announcement that she is planning to get married.

Diane Keaton has the important role of George’s wife, Nina. She is much more down-to-earth and calm than George, and it is her performance that helps calm this father’s nerves as the wedding grows nearer. Keaton has mastered these roles, and it even worked brilliantly in the fantastic holiday movie The Family Stone.

Father of the Bride remains one of Keaton’s most iconic films thanks to its large cult following, and it has stood the test of time as a comedy classic. The film even received two sequels, with Keaton returning for both, including the last one coming in 2020, 29 years later.

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Diane Keaton returned for the sequel to The Godfather in a smaller role, but one that had an even greater impact on the story. While the first movie had the love story between Michael Corleone and Kay Adams, this movie showed the destruction of their marriage, which led to Michael’s moral downfall.

What really stands out in The Godfather Part II was one scene, possibly the darkest scene in the entire Godfather franchise. This was where Kay told Michael she had an abortion on their third pregnancy. Since Michael was the third-born in his family, it was almost like she was “killing” his legacy with the admission.

Diane Keaton’s performance delivered the exact right amount of venom, and Michael’s reaction was horrifying, ending their marriage forever. This one scene led Michael to turn on his family and even order his brother’s death. Keaton’s performance is what made that final, shocking scene work so well.

Reds (1981)

Directed by Warren Beatty in 1981, Reds is a historical drama about John Reed, a journalist who chronicled the October Revolution in Russia in 1919. Beatty stars as Reed, while Diane Keaton stars as activist Louise Bryant. Jack Nicholson is also in the cast as playwright Eugene O’Neill.

While Reed is one of the key characters in the story, Red is more closely focused on Keaton’s Louise at the start, as she goes from a basic journalist to a dedicated feminist writer, considered a radical at the time. Her relationship with Reed becomes complicated, marked by many highs and lows, leading to the October Revolution.

This story follows two people with strong beliefs, willing to die for their causes. While Beatty has the more challenging role, Keaton is just as brilliant in her performance. Beatty won Best Director at the Oscars, while he, Keaton, Nicholson, and Maureen Stapleton all earned acting nominations, with Stapleton winning.

Something’s Gotta Give (2003)

In 2003, Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton starred in a movie that proved that romantic comedies with older actors could be just as compelling, if not more so, than those with young stars. Directed by Nancy Meyers, Something’s Gotta Give stars Nicholson as Harry Sanborn, a wealthy man who only dates women under 30.

However, this all changes when he meets Diane Keaton’s Erica Barry, a successful divorced Broadway playwright and the mother of Harry’s latest girlfriend (Amanda Peet). Keaton is brilliant in her performance, playing a woman with a successful professional life but who has always remained disappointed in her romantic life.

Keaton has a lot to do in this film, as she carries the baggage of wanting to find love, but realizing that Harry might not be the man for her. She is also much more mature than many rom-com characters, and her performance earned her a fourth, and final, Oscar nomination, while winning the Golden Globe in the comedy category.

Annie Hall (1977)

The best movie performance in Diane Keaton’s career was one of her earlier roles. In 1977, Keaton starred in the Woody Allen masterpiece Annie Hall. In this film, Allen stars as Alvy Singer, a man who tries to figure out why his relationship with Annie Hall (Keaton) failed.

Diane Keaton was magnificent in this role, delivering a performance that made her one of the most desirable women in Hollywood. She was perfect in a role where she was the dream woman for anyone, and proved why Alvy Singer was so smitten and distressed when he couldn’t seem to find a way to connect with her.

Annie Hall received widespread critical praise and has an almost-perfect 97% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, with most of the praise going to Allen and Keaton’s performances. This was Diane Keaton’s only Oscar win, and it was well deserved as one of the best acting performances of the 1970s.