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Woody Allen, who worked regularly with Diane Keaton throughout her career, paid tribute to the actress in an obituary in The Free Press following her death. The disgraced director shared his memories of Keaton, who appeared in films such as “Annie Hall”, “Sleeper”, “Manhattan” and “Love and Death”.
“Like no one else on this planet ever seen or likely ever to see again, her face and her laugh lit up every room she walked into,” Allen wrote. “When I first saw her lanky beauty at an audition, I thought: If Huckleberry Finn were a beautiful young woman, he would be Keaton.”
Allen described his long-standing collaboration and friendship with Keaton. Her opinion, he wrote, was one of the few he trusted: “Over time, I made films for a single audience, Diane Keaton. I never read a single review of my work and was only interested in what Keaton had to say about it. If she liked it, I considered the film an artistic success. If she was less enthusiastic, I tried to use her criticism to recut the film and create something that would appeal to her liked it better.”
A special connection
He added: “She had a great talent for comedy and drama, but she could also dance and sing with feeling. She also wrote books, took photographs, made collages, decorated houses and directed films. And finally, she was a person with whom you could laugh a lot.”
Allen and Keaton were once a couple and remained close friends afterward. He wrote numerous roles specifically for her, including the title role in 1977’s Annie Hall, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Many speculated that the film was based on their previous relationship, although Keaton told The New York Times, “That’s not true, but there are elements of truth in it.”
Of her style, Allen wrote: “Her fashion sense was, of course, a feast for the eyes. Her fashion creations rivaled the constructions of Rube Goldberg. She put together garments that defied logic but always worked. In later years her look became more elegant.”
A farewell full of admiration
In his tribute, Allen also recalled their shared past and how he met her family: “That was Keaton’s world, her people, her background,” he wrote. “It was amazing that this beautiful country bittern became an award-winning actress and a sophisticated fashion icon. We had a great few years together and eventually we went our separate ways, and why we parted is something only God and Freud can figure out.”
“She dated a number of exciting men, all of whom were more fascinating than me,” Allen continued. “I kept trying to create this great masterpiece, which I know I’m still struggling with. I joked with Keaton that we would end up like Norma Desmond and Erich von Stroheim, once her director, now her chauffeur. But the world is constantly being redefined, and with Keaton’s death it will be redefined again. A few days ago the world was a place where Diane Keaton existed. Now it is a world in which she no longer exists. Therefore it is a bleaker world. But there are still her films. And her great laugh still resonates in my head.”
Allen has been surrounded by controversy since his affair with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his then-partner Mia Farrow. During the custody battle with Farrow, she claimed that Allen had “behaved inappropriately” toward her daughter, Dylan Farrow. Allen denied the allegations and married Previn, to whom he has been married for more than 20 years.
A complex legacy
The allegations resurfaced during the #MeToo movement, and Keaton defended Allen on social media: “Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him,” Keaton wrote. “It might be interesting to watch the 1992 60 Minutes interview and see for yourself.”
In 2017, Allen made a public appearance to present Keaton with the AFI Life Achievement Award. “From the moment I met her, she was a huge, huge inspiration to me,” he said during the event. “A lot of what I’ve accomplished in my life I definitely owe to her. Seeing life through her eyes. She’s truly amazing. This woman is amazing at everything she does.”