Diane Keaton - Film & Theater Personalities, Birthday and Childhood

She was born on January 5, 1946, as Diana Hall to John Newton Ignatius "Jack" Hall and Dorothy Deanne as their oldest among four children. Her father was a civil engineer and was also into real estate broking and her mother was a homemaker as well as an amateur photographer.

She was brought up as a Free Methodist in Santa Ana, California, where she attended the ‘Santa Ana High School’ and graduated from there in 1963. Her enthusiasm in extracurricular activities could be easily perceived from her participation in acting and singing clubs during her school days.

After graduation she joined the ‘Santa Ana College’ to study drama. She later joined the ‘Orange Coast College’ but dropped out after a short while to attend the full-time acting conservatory ‘Neighborhood Playhouse’ in New York. In between she altered her name to Diane Keaton adopting her mother’s maiden name Keaton after she joined the ‘Actors’ Equity Association’.

For a short while she performed at nightclubs as a singer. In 1968, she landed up a role in the Broadway rock musical ‘Hair’. She famously refused to strip in the role which though optional required actors to perform nude in the end of Act I.

In 1970, she performed in Woody Allen’s hit Broadway stage show ‘Play It Again, Sam’. She received a nomination for the ‘Tony Award’ for her performance in the play. In the same year she made her debut in big screen as Joan Vecchio in the comedy film ‘Lovers and Other Strangers’ and also performed as a guest artist in TV series namely ‘Love, American Style’ and ‘Night Gallery’.

In 1971, she essayed the character of Renata Wallinger in the short film ‘Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story’. She performed in single episodes of two television series ‘The F.B.I’ and ‘Mannix’ respectively.

Her first major role came in 1972 with Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Academy Awards’ winning film ‘The Godfather’ starring opposite Al Pacino. The film received both critical acclamation and met with box office success and charted at the top as the highest grossing film of 1972. It proved to be the breakthrough film of Keaton taking her career to the next level.

She made a remarkable comeback in the comedy genre with the Woody Allen films as Linda in the 1972 released ‘Play It Again, Sam’ and as Luna Schlosser in the 1973 released ‘Sleeper’. Both the films became successful furthering her career as a star.

In 1974, she reprised her role of Kay Adams in ‘The Godfather’ sequel, ‘The Godfather Part II’.

Her collaboration with Woody Allen continued with several other successful films like ‘Love and Death’ (1975), ‘Annie Hall’ (1977), ‘Interiors’ (1978) and ‘Manhattan’ (1979).

The 1977 released film ‘Annie Hall’, considered as an on-screen sketch of Diane Keaton and Woody Allen’s real life romance, went on to become a masterpiece in the genre of comedy. While the film won the ‘Best Picture’ award at the ‘Academy Awards’, she fetched the award of ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’. She also bagged several other awards including ‘BAFTA Awards’ and ‘Golden Globe’.

After a gap of few years she returned to television in 1977 playing her now more popular character of Kay Adams Corleone in the miniseries ‘The Godfather Saga’.

Her next major film happened to be the 1981 released ‘Reds’ where she played as Louise Bryant starring opposite her then boyfriend Warren Beatty. She received rave reviews for her characterisation and also fetched several award nominations including ‘Academy Awards’, ‘Golden Globe’ and ‘People’s Choice Awards’.

In 1984, she did two films, ‘The Little Drummer Girl’ and ‘Mrs. Soffel’. While the former could not achieve success, the later won her critical acclaim.

Some of her other films of the 1980s include ‘Crimes of the Heart’ (1986), ‘Radio Days’ (1987) and ‘The Good Mother’ (1988). She starred in the 1987 hit comedy film ‘Baby Boom’ which was written and produced by Nancy Mayers. In the same year she made her debut as director and editor with the documentary feature film ‘Heaven’ that dealt with the probability of an afterlife.

Her stint as director continued with directing music videos, television films and a few episodes of a couple of television series.

She started the 1990s with reprising her role as Kay Adams in the 1990 released film ‘The Godfather Part III’. She took up more matured roles during this time and in 1991 she tasted success with the comedy film ‘Father of the Bride’ starring opposite Steve Martin. She reprised the role of Nina Banks in the 1995 sequel ‘Father of the Bride Part II’.

In 1993, after a gap of over a decade she performed in a major role in a Woody Allen film, ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’. Earlier in 1987, she did a cameo performance in his film ‘Radio Days’. The role earned her a ‘Golden Globe’ nomination.

In 1995, she directed the film ‘Unstrung Heroes’ which was not a commercial success but received positive response from critics.

The comedy film ‘The First Wives Club’ released in 1996 and happened to be her biggest hit at the box office during the 90s. She received the ‘National Board of Review’ award for the film.

She essayed the challenging role of Bessie, a women suffering from leukaemia in the 1996 film ‘Marvin’s Room’ opposite the likes of Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio. The film received positive reviews from critics and fetched her ‘Academy Awards’ and the ‘Screen Actors Guild Awards’ nominations.

Some of her other films of the 90s include ‘Look Who’s Talking Now’ (1993), ‘The Only Thrill’ (1997), and ‘The Other Sister’ (1999). Her television movies include ‘The Running Mates’ (1992) and ‘Northern Lights’ (1997). Her performance as Amelia Earhart in the TV film ‘Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight’ in 1994 fetched her ‘Golden Globe’, ‘Primetime Emmy’ and the ‘Screen Actors Guild Awards’ nominations.

In 1999, she lent her voice for ‘If I Get Out Alive’, an hour long documentary produced by ‘Lichtenstein Creative Media’. The program that dealt with the issue of challenges faced by young inmates of adult correctional system was aired on different public radio stations nationwide.

She directed and acted in the 2000 released film ‘Hanging Up’ and went on to win the ‘Modern Master Award’ at the 2001 ‘Santa Barbara International Film Festival’.

She met with immense success and popularity starring opposite Jack Nicholson in the 2003 hit romantic comedy film ‘Something's Gotta Give’ directed by Nancy Meyers. She won the ‘Golden Globe’ award and the ‘Satellite Awards’ among others and earned several nominations including the ‘Academy Awards’.

Some of her films in 2000s include ‘Town & Country’ (2001), ‘The Family Stone’ (2005), ‘Mama’s Boy’ (2007), ‘Morning Glory’ (2010), ‘And So It Goes’ (2014) and ‘Love the Coopers’ (2015) among others.

Along with her big screen flicks she continued to perform in several television movies. Some of her films of 2000s include ‘Sister Mary Explains It All’ (2001), ‘Crossed Over’ (2002), ‘Surrender, Dorothy’ (2006) and ‘Schitt’s Creek’ (2014).

She is scheduled to play Sister Mary in the upcoming television series of 2016, ‘The Young Pope’. She will also lend her voice as the mother of Dory in the animated film ‘Finding Dory’, a sequel of ‘Finding Nemo’.

Apart from being an actor, she is also a writer, a photographer and a real estate developer. Some of the books that she has penned down include ‘California Romantica’ and ‘Diane Keaton: House’ along with D. J. Waldie, ‘Then Again’ along with Anna Quindlen and ‘Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty’. She also released her book on photography ‘Reservations’ in 1980.

Daine Keaton received the ‘Academy Awards’ in 1977 as the ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ for her outstanding performance in the film ‘Annie Hall’ among several other awards. In 1978 she bagged many other awards for her role in the film including the ‘BAFTA Award’ and ‘Golden Globe’.

Diane Keaton has never married although she has had several relationships. She got romantically associated with Woody Allen during the hit Broadway show ‘Play It Again, Sam’. Though the relationship lasted for a few years and she maintains that Woody Allen counts among her closest friends.

From 1979 she had a short-lived affair with Warren Beatty, her co-star from ‘Reds’.

She had a controversial on and off relationship with Al Pacino, her co-star of the ‘Godfather’ series, which finally came to an end after co-starring in ‘The Godfather Part III’.

In 1996, she adopted her daughter Dexter and in 2001 she adopted her son Duke.

She often wears white clothing and is also frequently seen in gloves.

In 1995, the ‘Empire Magazine’ placed her at number 46 among the list of ‘100 Sexiest Stars in Film History’.

She actively promotes safeguarding and restoring the historic buildings.

Since May 2005, she contributes at ‘The Huffington Post’ as one of its blogger.

She is the first woman who received the ‘Golden Lion Award’ in 2014 at the ‘Zurich Film Festival’.