A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Many of the headlines marking the death of actress Diane Keaton this weekend mention "Annie Hall." That's the film that earned her an Oscar and made her a distinctively haphazard fashion icon.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANNIE HALL")
DIANE KEATON: (As Annie Hall) Oh, God, Annie. Well, oh, well (laughter). La-di-da, la-di-da, la-la. Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Bob Mondello says the part of Annie Hall fit her like the black felt hat the character wore so well, but there was always more to Keaton, and audiences sensed that.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Diane Keaton was featured in the Broadway musical "Hair" before she ever appeared on screen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLACK BOYS")
KEATON: (As character, singing) 'Cause I really craved for my chocolate-flavored treats.
MONDELLO: And while the film career that followed spanned six decades, if she had quit Hollywood after just the first, she'd still have been a leading lady for the ages. In just the 1970s, she appeared in two "Godfather" movies, six films with Woody Allen, including "Sleeper," "Love And Death," "Play It Again, Sam" in a part she had originated on Broadway and Manhattan. And the year she won a best actress Oscar for the comedy "Annie Hall," she also left audiences trembling for her repressed schoolteacher caught in a dark spiral of one-night stands in the searing sexual drama "Looking For Mr. Goodbar."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR")
KEATON: (As Theresa Dunn, shouting) I'm alone, not lonely, and depressed. And you're depressing me.
MONDELLO: This bouncing back and forth among genres continued throughout her career, winning her Oscar nominations and audience affection in about equal measure. She was nominated for Warren Beatty's "Reds," where she played an intense writer hanging out with socialists...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "REDS")
KEATON: (As Louise Bryant) I don't want to be patronized. I'm sorry if you don't believe in mutual independence and free love and respect.
MONDELLO: ...And nominated again for "Marvin's Room" as a caregiving daughter who ended up needing care herself. Audiences loved the warmth she brought to the knockabout "Father Of The Bride" comedies and the spirit she showed...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FIRST WIVES CLUB")
KEATON: (As Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, singing) Don't tell me what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, laughter) Yes.
MONDELLO: ...As a feisty divorcee opposite Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn in "First Wives Club."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FIRST WIVES CLUB")
KEATON: (As Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, singing) And when I go out with you, don't put me on display.
GOLDIE HAWN: (As Elise Eliot-Atchison) Pretty good.
BETTE MIDLER: (As Brenda Morelli-Cushman) You remembered.
DIANE KEATON, GOLDIE HAWN AND BETTE MIDLER: (As Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, Elise Eliot-Atchison and Brenda Morelli-Cushman, singing) You don't own me.
MONDELLO: Unlike many actresses, Keaton continued to be cast as alluring well into middle age. That was, in fact, the central premise of the romance that earned her her last Oscar nomination, "Something's Gotta Give." The co-star close to her age, Jack Nicholson, was dating her on-screen daughter. Such was the custom for leading men. But in a switch from custom, Keaton's character was being wooed by Keanu Reeves.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE")
KEATON: (As Erica Barry) How old are you?
KEANU REEVES: (As Julian Mercer) I'm 36.
KEATON: (As Erica Barry) So I'm, like, almost 20 years older than you. That's an enormous amount of years to be older than somebody, don't you think?
REEVES: (As Julian Mercer) Don't think it matters at all.
KEATON: (As Erica Barry) OK. But in terms of us, I mean, you just want us to be friends, right?
REEVES: (As Julian Mercer) Honestly? No.
KEATON: (As Erica Barry) So what do you want to be?
REEVES: (As Julian Mercer) I think I'd embarrass you if I told you.
KEATON: (As Erica Barry, laughter) I was embarrassed just getting dressed to see you.
MONDELLO: The film worked because Diane Keaton was everything he thought she was - smart, beautiful, funny, magnetic - just as she was in real life, and in real life capable of playing pretty much anything, even a super supportive cartoon blue tang mom to the title fish in Pixar's "Finding Dory."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FINDING DORY")
KEATON: (As Jenny, singing) Sing the song. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.
MONDELLO: Diane Keaton swam with grace through dozens of character arcs and into audience hearts. I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FIRST WIVES CLUB")
KEATON: (As Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, singing) I'm young.
MIDLER: (As Brenda Morelli-Cushman, singing) I'm young.
HAWN: (As Elise Eliot-Atchison, singing) And I love to be young.
KEATON: (As Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, singing) I'm free, yeah.
MIDLER: (As Brenda Morelli-Cushman, singing) I'm free, and I love to be free.
KEATON, HAWN AND MIDLER: (As Annie MacDuggan-Paradis, Elise Eliot-Atchison and Brenda Morelli-Cushman, singing) To live my life the way that I want, to say and do whatever I please. Oh, no... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
