Woody Allen paid tribute to his former muse, romantic partner and lifelong friend Diane Keaton, who died on Saturday, aged 79, in a heartfelt essay published in The Free Press.
“It’s grammatically incorrect to say ‘most unique,’ but all rules of grammar, and I guess anything else, are suspended when talking about Diane Keaton,” writes Allen about the Oscar-winning actress and style icon. “Unlike anyone the planet has experienced or is unlikely to ever see again, her face and laugh illuminated any space she entered.”
Allen recalled meeting Keaton when she was cast opposite him in his 1969 play Play it Again, Sam. After a week of not talking to each other — “She was shy, I was shy, and with two shy people things can get pretty dull.” — Allen notes, they shared lunch during a break in rehearsals. “That was our first moment of personal contact. The upshot is that she was so charming, so beautiful, so magical, that I questioned my sanity. I thought: Could I be in love so quickly?”
The two quickly became a couple and Keaton was the first person Allen would show his work to, with her opinion the only one that mattered.
“I never read a single review of my work and cared only what Keaton had to say about it. If she liked it, I counted the film as an artistic success. If she was less than enthusiastic, I tried to use her criticism to reedit and come away with something she felt better about,” he writes.
Allen is effusive in his praise for Keaton’s own artistic talents, noting, alongside her acting, dancing and singing ability, that she “also wrote books and did photography, made collages, decorated homes, and directed films,” but that she remained, “a beautiful yokel” with deep ties to her family and upbringing in rural Orange County.
Allen recalls a Thanksgiving at Keaton’s family home, where he played penny poker with the Keaton clan and ended the big winner, “clearing about 80 cents,” which made the rest of the family suspicious. “They thought I was hustling them.”
For many years, Keaton was Allen’s artistic muse, appearing in several of his films, including her titular, Oscar-winning turn in Annie Hall, which won her the Oscar. She starred in a total of 8 of Allen’s films, including the film version Play It Again, Sam (1972), Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), Interiors (1978), Manhattan (1979), Radio Days (1987) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993).
Allen presented Keaton with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2017, saying: “Much of what I’ve accomplished in my life I owe, for sure, to her. Seeing life through her eyes. She really is astonishing. This is a woman who is great at everything she does.”
Keaton and Allen remained close, and the actress publicly defended Allen through his public controversies. Most recently, during the #MeToo era, when allegations from former partner Mia Farrow resurfaced, accusing Allen of having abused their daughter, Dylan Farrow. Allen has always denied the allegations. “Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him,” Keaton wrote at the time.
After “a few great personal years together,” Allen notes in his essay, “we both moved on, and why we parted only God and Freud might be able to figure out.” Reflecting on her passing, Allen remarks that “a few days ago, the world was a place that included Diane Keaton. Now it’s a world that does not. Hence, it’s a drearier world. Still, there are her movies. And her great laugh still echoes in my head.”
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