Hollywood lost one of its most enigmatic and enduring icons on October 11, 2025, when Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton passed away at her Los Angeles home at the age of 79. Just four days later, on October 15, her family issued a heartfelt statement disclosing that the beloved star succumbed to pneumonia, a complication that struck amid a rapid and unforeseen health decline. The announcement, shared exclusively with People magazine, has prompted an outpouring of tributes from fellow stars, fans, and industry heavyweights, underscoring Keaton’s profound impact on film, fashion, and culture over five decades.

“The Keaton family are very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support they have received these past few days on behalf of their beloved Diane, who passed away from pneumonia on October 11,” the statement read, as reported by Variety and TMZ. The family, which includes Keaton’s adopted children Dexter and Duke, emphasized her lifelong passions, suggesting donations in her memory to local food banks or animal shelters. “She loved her animals and she was steadfast in her support of the unhoused community, so any donations in her memory to a local food bank or an animal shelter would be a wonderful and much appreciated tribute to her,” they added. Keaton, a lifelong advocate for adoption and animal welfare, leaves behind a legacy that extended far beyond the silver screen.

The circumstances of her passing were as abrupt as they were heartbreaking. According to multiple reports, Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to an emergency call at Keaton’s Beverly Hills residence around 8:08 a.m. on October 11, transporting the 79-year-old to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead later that day. A 911 audio recording obtained by TMZ described the incident as a “person down,” highlighting the sudden nature of the event. Sources close to the actress told People that her health had “declined very suddenly” in recent months, a deterioration that caught even longtime friends off guard. “She was very thin,” songwriter Carole Bayer Sager recounted in an interview, noting she had last seen Keaton two to three weeks prior. Sager attributed some of the weight loss to Keaton’s temporary relocation to Palm Springs after wildfires damaged her Los Angeles home earlier in the year, forcing a cleanup that left her displaced and exhausted.

Keaton’s vulnerability to pneumonia may have been exacerbated by her age and prior health battles. The actress had been candid about her struggles with bulimia during her younger years, a disorder she detailed in her 2011 memoir “Then Again,” and she underwent treatment for basal cell skin cancer in 2017, which she beat but which required ongoing vigilance. In the months leading up to her death, Keaton had put her longtime “dream home”—a quirky, book-filled Beverly Hills estate she cherished—up for sale, a move insiders linked to her waning health and the physical toll of maintaining it. Her final Instagram post, shared just days before her passing, captured a serene moment at home with her beloved golden retriever, Duke, captioned simply with a heart emoji—a poignant snapshot of the private, pet-loving life she guarded fiercely in her later years.

Born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles to a civil engineer father and a photographer mother, Keaton’s journey to stardom was anything but conventional. She initially pursued singing, training under Broadway legend Harold Prince, but pivoted to acting after a chance audition for Woody Allen’s Broadway production of “Play It Again, Sam” in 1969. Her breakout role as the quirky, vest-wearing Annie Hall in Allen’s 1977 semi-autobiographical romantic comedy not only earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress—beating out competition from the likes of Jane Fonda and Marsha Mason—but also redefined on-screen romance and women’s independence. “Annie Hall” grossed over $40 million (a staggering sum in the ’70s) and won four Oscars, cementing Keaton’s status as a comedic force while her menswear-inspired wardrobe sparked a fashion revolution.

Keaton’s versatility shone across genres. She humanized the mob epic as Kay Adams-Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” (1972) and its 1974 sequel, earning a Best Actress nomination for the latter and proving she could hold her own against Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Her dramatic chops garnered further nods for Warren Beatty’s “Reds” (1981) and her poignant turn as a mother facing terminal illness in “Marvin’s Room” (1996). Yet it was in comedy where she truly dazzled: the zany sci-fi romp “Sleeper” (1973) with Allen, the ensemble hilarity of “The First Wives Club” (1996) alongside Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler, and the heartfelt family dramedy “Father of the Bride” (1991) with Steve Martin. Later roles in Nancy Meyers’ “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003)—another Best Actress nomination—and indie gems like “Love and Other Drugs” (2010) showcased her timeless appeal, blending vulnerability with wry humor.

Off-screen, Keaton was a trailblazer in her own right. An early adopter of adoption, she welcomed son Dexter in 1996 and daughter Duke in 2001 from China, raising them as a single mother in a deliberate rejection of Hollywood’s traditional family mold. Her memoirs—”Then Again” and “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty” (2014)—offered unflinching glimpses into her battles with anxiety, body image, and her complex relationship with Woody Allen, whom she dated for over a decade. Keaton’s fashion icon status—oversized blazers, wide-brimmed hats, and a penchant for menswear—earned her a CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 and inspired generations, from millennials layering like Annie Hall to Gen Z’s thrift-core revival.

The news of her death rippled through Tinseltown like a aftershock. Reese Witherspoon called her “a truly original person,” while Jane Fonda lamented, “It’s hard to believe,” sharing memories of their ’70s activism. Goldie Hawn posted a throwback from “The First Wives Club,” writing, “My fierce, fabulous friend—rest easy, Diane.” Steve Martin, her “Father of the Bride” co-star, quipped through tears: “She made chaos look like poetry.” Bette Midler echoed the sentiment: “Diane was the gold standard of cool.” Even amid the Woody Allen controversies that shadowed her later career, Keaton remained steadfast in her support for him, but her passing has refocused attention on her independent spirit.

In a fitting tribute, AMC Theatres announced one-week rereleases of “Annie Hall” and “Something’s Gotta Give” starting October 17, inviting fans to revisit the films that defined her sparkle. Streaming platforms like Netflix and Max reported spikes in views of her catalog, with “The Godfather” trilogy trending worldwide. Keaton’s influence endures in modern cinema too—think Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” nods to her comedic timing or the quirky heroines of “Booksmart.”

Diane Keaton’s life was a masterclass in reinvention: from Broadway ingenue to Oscar darling, from anxious ingénue to unflappable matriarch. Her death from pneumonia, while sudden, closes a chapter on a woman who lived unapologetically, quirks and all. As she once wrote in her memoir, “I learned I couldn’t shed light on love other than to feel its comings and goings and be grateful.” Grateful we are—for the laughter, the layers, the legacy. In Hollywood’s vast tapestry, Diane Keaton’s thread was irreplaceably bold.