Diane Keaton's 10 Best Movies

We lost a veritable legend this weekend.

Diane Keaton died at age 79 on Oct. 11. She was an actor of incredible range and moved effortlessly between genres, showing up in comedies, dramas, stage roles, historical epics, and more. She continued working with the same charm and grace that defined her early career, defying Hollywood's tendency to sideline older actors.

"What made my life interesting was I had freedom. You know, that I had the opportunity to make my choices with time as it went on," Keaton told ABC News back in 2022.

Here are 10 of her iconic roles to revisit in tribute to her fascinating career.

Annie Hall

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This is where it all started. It made Keaton a household name and won her an Academy Award for Best Actress, while also establishing her signature style—loose menswear with creative accessories.

She played the titular character opposite Woody Allen's neurotic Alvy Singer.

"Annie Hall," she told The New York Times back then, is about "how difficult it is for two sort of neurotic people who like each other to have a relationship in New York and keep it going."

At a 2017 AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, Allen joked about Keaton's style, saying she "looks like the woman in A Streetcar Named Desire who comes to take Blanche away."

The Godfather

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The tragedy of Kay Adams-Corleone further darkens the backdrop of The Godfather movies. She represents the story's moral center, the fish out of water who sees her husband descend into the criminal underworld.

For decades, Keaton wondered why director Francis Ford Coppola cast her. In a 2023 Instagram AMA, Coppola revealed that she asked him, "Why on Earth did you choose me for The Godfather?!!" (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Coppola's response was, "I 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)."

Keaton later told People Magazine in 2022 that she'd never read the script before accepting the role.

"I think the kindest thing that someone's ever done for me ... is that I got cast to be in The Godfather and I didn't even read it. I didn't know a single thing," she said. "I just was going around auditioning. I think that was amazing for me. And then I had to kind of read the book."

Something's Gotta Give

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Nancy Meyers wrote this role specifically for Keaton, and it resulted in her fourth Oscar nomination. She played Erica Barry, a playwright who finds romance with Jack Nicholson's lothario.

As Keaton told W Magazine in 2018, "In between takes, we were continually worried about how many kisses we were actually going to have to perform in front of everyone. But it was heaven to perform. Once the camera goes, you can just let those inhibitions go, and you just enjoy it. I had a fabulous time."

The film's famous crying scene, where Erica processes heartbreak while writing at her computer, remains one of the most relatable and memeable moments in romantic comedies.

Reds

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Playing writer Louise Bryant opposite Warren Beatty's journalist John Reed, Keaton got through a grueling shoot to make this beloved historical epic.

According to Peter Biskind's reporting in Vanity Fair, "Beatty's relationship with Keaton barely survived the shoot. It is always a dicey proposition when an actress works with a star or director—both, in this case—with whom she has an offscreen relationship."

Despite the difficulties, Keaton came away with her second Best Actress Oscar nomination. Nicholson shows up again here as Eugene O'Neill for some incredible scenes with her.

The First Wives Club

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Here we have three powerhouse actors (Keaton, Bette Midler, and Goldie Hawn) in a revenge comedy that became a cult phenomenon. Keaton anchored the film while delivering laughs as Annie MacDuggan.

In 2021, Keaton answered questions from various celeb friends, including Ariana Grande, for Interview.

"What is your favorite line or scene from The First Wives Club?" Grande asked.

"It's not a line, but performing the song 'You Don't Own Me' was so fun," she said.

The movie struck a chord with audiences who rarely saw stories about women over 40. It grossed over $180 million worldwide.

Father of the Bride

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Meyers wrote this remake of the 1950 original, and Keaton brought warmth and steadfastness to Nina Banks, the mother trying to keep everyone sane as her daughter prepares for her wedding.

While Steve Martin's George gets most of the wilder comic moments, Keaton provided the film's emotional foundation and calm center.

"Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, who'd worked with me before, had to beg to get me into Father of the Bride. I was very fortunate, because they were very staunchly for me," Keaton told Film Scouts in 1996. She added later, "Just before Father of the Bride, I'd done a movie called The Good Mother, which was a big failure. Like, big failure. And that was it! And that was a Disney movie. So when Charles and Nancy wanted me for Father of the Bride, Disney didn't want anything with me."

The film was so successful that it spawned a sequel.

Baby Boom

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Another collaboration with Meyers, this comedy cast Keaton as a high-powered executive whose life implodes when she unexpectedly inherits a baby. Watching her navigate work and motherhood, Keaton showed her gift for physical comedy.

"Nancy's very precise," Keaton told Vulture with a laugh in 2020. "She's very, very specific, which is why I think all of those comedies work so well. Because I can get really sloppy, really fast. And I like to be sloppy."

The film earned Keaton her sixth Golden Globe nomination.

Marvin's Room

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In this understated drama, Keaton played Bessie, a woman who has spent years caring for her ailing father. When she's diagnosed with leukemia, she reconnects with her estranged sister (Meryl Streep).

Streep said of Keaton on Lifetime, "[She's] hilarious and seemingly effortless, which is what her work also always seems to be. She can act, direct, and she can design. She's a wonderful designer, so triple threat" (via Simply Streep).

The role landed Keaton her third Oscar nomination.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

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Released the same year as Annie Hall, this drama about a quiet teacher leading a double life as an impulsive cruiser and seeker of sexual freedom allowed Keaton to flex her considerable dramatic range as an actor.

"Diane is right for the role," director Richard Brooks said while on the set of the film (via Roger Ebert). "She's a shy girl, I think, kinda quiet. Wonderful actress. She'll look right in the movie."

The film has a controversial and violent ending, which we won't spoil for you. It remains one of Keaton's most daring role choices.

Manhattan

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Allen wrote this love letter to New York City and gave Keaton a part as Mary Wilke. Shot in black and white by Gordon Willis, the film let Keaton play someone different from Annie Hall.

In a 2015 conversation with actor Emma Stone for Interview, Keaton and Stone discussed how the bittersweet ending of Chaplin's City Lights felt like Manhattan's.