American film actress, director and producer Diane Keaton was born on January 5, 1946 in Los Angeles, California. She began her career on stage, and graduated from Sta. Ana High School in 1964, where she participated in a number of performance clubs. She then attended Sta. Ana College, but moved to Orange Coast College as an acting student. She dropped out and joined the Actors’ Equity Association. She also studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. She also auditioned for a part in Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam, and won the role for the production. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance.
Diane Keaton’s film debut came in the 1970s, appearing in Lovers and Other Strangers. She was then noticed by Francis Ford Coppola, and cast her as Kay Adams in The Godfather in 1972, reprising the role in the sequels The Godfather: Part II and The Godfather: Part III.. Most of her notable film roles involve her collaborations with Woody Allen. She played eccentric characters in some of his films, including Luna Schlosser in Sleeper, Sonja in Love and Death and Mary Wilkie in Manhattan. She next played the title character in Annie Hall, a romantic comedy also with Allen. Keaton won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She also had a role in the lighthearted comedy Looking for Mr. Goodbar in 1977, which won her a Golden Globe nomination. When she ended her relationship with Woody Allen, she starred in the film Reds, opposite Warren Beatty. Keaton then received her second Academy Award nomination.
Keaton decided to break the typecast she had fallen into by playing the role of a na?ve woman named Charlie in The Little Drummer Girl. It was a critical and commercial failure, but her career was revived when she starred in the 1987 romantic comedy Baby Boom. She also directed her first feature film, Heaven, a do!$#!#entary on the afterlife. She then received more mature roles in the 1990s, starring alongside Steve Martin in the comedy Father of the Bride. She also starred in Manhattan Murder Mystery and Unstrung Heroes, and became more of a success in The First Wives Club with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler. In 2000, she acted and directed the film Hanging Up, starring Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow. It didn’t do well in the box office, and was followed by another critical failure Town & Country, with Warren Beatty. Keaton was able to revive her career with 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give, which also stars Jack Nicholson. She was also featured in the ensemble film The Family Stone, with Sarah Jessica Parker. She has also produced television series like FOX’s Pasadena and the Gus Van Sant drama Elephant.