Do we like Diane Keaton?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful turned up, plenty of real good, but one loyalty and one dismissive remark about the Allen allegations are a real mark.
Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles in January 1946 and took her mum's maiden name because another Diane Hall was already in Actors' Equity. She started as a Broadway understudy in Hair, then landed the stage run of Play It Again, Sam. Her film debut came in 1970, and then she was Kay Adams in The Godfather.
The 1970s turned her into a star through a run of Woody Allen films, including Annie Hall, which won her the Best Actress Oscar. Later came a long partnership with writer-director Nancy Meyers: Baby Boom, Father of the Bride, The First Wives Club and Something's Gotta Give. She died in California in October 2025, aged 79, according to People magazine, which cited a family spokesperson.
Here's the stoush. In January 2018 she tweeted that Allen was her friend and that she continued to believe him, after his adoptive daughter had alleged he molested her as a child. Allen has never been charged and has repeatedly denied the claim. Director Judd Apatow publicly criticised Keaton for it, and she was one of several Hollywood names pulled into the argument that week.
She didn't walk it back. In 2023 she told The Hollywood Reporter she was “proud beyond measure” of her work with Allen. Asked about the allegations in a Guardian interview, she said it was a “horrible shame” and added “You gotta get over it!” Critics heard a brush-off of a serious accusation; defenders see a woman loyal to a friend who has always denied it. Where you land depends on which you hear.
On the harm test, we found nothing from her on trans people, migrants, vaccines or climate, and no campaigning or donations for harmful causes. Her recent work was mostly with Meyers and comedy ensembles, with no company that raised a flag. On the queer side, she told Pride Source she hadn't known she was a gay icon and was glad to hear it. She said she'd had gay friends since her early years, and that if a lesbian role came up she was “available”. Nothing new on her lately beyond tributes.
The real good is a surprising one: buildings. She served on the Los Angeles Conservancy board, was a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and joined the Ennis House Foundation board. She called on Hollywood to help save the Frank Lloyd Wright house, and her fight against razing the Century Plaza Hotel helped keep it standing. She lost the Ambassador Hotel fight, then wrote about the lessons.