Actress Diane Keaton, who starred in films including The Godfather and Annie Hall, has died, reports have said.
People reported her death at the age of 79, citing a family spokesperson.
The magazine said she died in California with loved ones but no other details were immediately available, and representatives for Keaton did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press news agency.
Keaton’s death was also reported by the New York Times newspaper which said it has spoken to Dori Roth, who produced a number of Keaton’s most recent films, who confirmed she had died but did not provide any details about the circumstances.
With a long career, across a series of movies that are regarded as some of the best ever made, Keaton was widely admired.
She was awarded an Oscar, a BAFTA and two Golden Globe Awards, and was also nominated for two Emmys, and a Tony, as well as picking up a series of other Academy Award and BAFTA nominations.
Her best actress Oscar was for the Woody Allen film Annie Hall, which is said to be loosely based on her life.
She appeared in several other Allen projects, including Manhattan, as well as all three Godfather movies, in which she played Kay, the wife and then ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, opposite him as he descends into a life of crime and replaces his father in the family’s mafia empire.
‘Brilliant, beautiful’
The unexpected news was met with shock around the world.
Her First Wives Club co-star Bette Midler wrote on Instagram: “The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me.
“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was … oh, la, lala!”
Actor Ben Stiller paid tribute on X, writing: “Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors ever. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person.”
Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in the iconic necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family.
Keaton also frequently worked with Nancy Meyers, starting with 1987’s Baby Boom.
Their other films together included 1991’s Father of the Bride and its 1995 sequel, as well as 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give.
In 1996 she starred opposite Goldie Hawn and Midler in The First Wives Club, about three women whose husbands had left them for younger women.
More recently she collaborated with Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen on the Book Club films.
Keaton never married. She adopted a daughter, Dexter, in 1996 and a son, Duke, four years later.
Sky News has contacted Keaton’s agent for a comment.
