| Diane Keaton |
Article Index for Diane |
Website Links For Diane |
Information AboutDiane Keaton |
|
Diane Keaton (born , 2006 . Keaton took on different kinds of roles to avoid becoming , Real Estate developer, and occasional Singer . EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION Born Diane Hall in as one of her inspirations, whom she admires for playing strong and independent women.Nancy Griffin. "American Original" ''More'' Magazine. March 2004. Keaton is a 1964 graduate of Santa Ana High School in , 4 November 2004. She would later revisit her nightclub act in '' Annie Hall '' (1977), and in a cameo in '' Radio Days '' (1987). Keaton began studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City . She initially studied acting under the Meisner Technique , an Ensemble acting technique made popular in the 1920s by Sanford Meisner , a New York acting director. She has described her acting technique as, " In 1968 Keaton became an understudy on the original 's production of '' Play It Again, Sam ''. After nearly being passed over for being too tall (at 5 ft 8 inches (1.73 m) she is two Inch es (5 cm) taller than Allen), she won the part. CAREER 1970s ''.]] After being nominated for a Tony Award for ''Play It Again, Sam'', Keaton made her film debut in 1970's '' Lovers And Other Strangers ''. She followed with guest roles on the television series '' Love, American Style '' and '' Night Gallery ''. Between films, Keaton appeared in a series of Deodorant Commercial s. Keaton's breakthrough role came two years later. In 1971 she was cast as of 1972. Two years later she reprised her role in '' The Godfather, Part II ''. She was initially reluctant to reprise her role, stating that, "At first, I was skeptical about playing Kay again in the ''Godfather'' sequel. But when I read the script, the character seemed much more substantial than in the first movie." In ''Part II'' her character had changed dramatically, becoming more embittered about her husband's activities. Even though Keaton received widespread exposure from the films, her character's importance was minimal. '' Time '' wrote that she was "invisible in ''The Godfather'' and pallid in ''The Godfather, Part II''.""Love, Death and La - De - Dah" ''TIME'' magazine. 26 September 1977. in 1977's '' Annie Hall ''. "La-de-dah" became Keaton's popular Catch Phrase .]] Keaton's other notable films of the 1970s included many collaborations with Woody Allen. At the time she was also romantically involved with him, and played many eccentric characters in several of his comic and dramatic films including '' Sleeper '', '' Love And Death '', '' Interiors '', '' Manhattan '', and a film version of ''Play It Again, Sam''. Allen has gone on to credit Keaton as his Muse during his early film career.Lax, 2000, p. 204. In 1977 Keaton starred with Allen in the for Best Picture . Keaton's performance also won the Academy Award For Best Actress . In 2006, '' Premiere '' magazine ranked Keaton in ''Annie Hall'' as 60th on their list of the "100 Greatest Performances of All Time": Keaton's eccentric fashion from ''Annie Hall'' made her an unlikely fashion icon of the late 1970s. Keaton is known to favor men's vintage clothing, and usually appears in public wearing gloves and conservative attire. (A 2005 profile in the '' presentation in a men's Tuxedo and a Bowler Hat . Keaton also became a frequent target of fashion critic Mr. Blackwell , having made his annual "Worst Dressed List" on five occasions. In a 1977 ''Time'' magazine cover story Keaton was dubbed "the funniest woman now working in films." Later that year, she departed from her usual lighthearted comic roles when she accepted a role in the drama '' Looking For Mr. Goodbar '', based on the novel by Judith Rossner . In the film she played a Catholic schoolteacher for deaf children who lives a double life, spending nights frequenting singles bars and engaging in promiscuous sex. Keaton became interested in the role after seeing it as a "psychological case history."Joan Juliet Buck. "Inside Diane Keaton". ''Vanity Fair''. March 1987. The same issue of ''Time'' commended her role choice and criticized the restricted roles available for female actors in American films: In addition to acting, Keaton has stated that " 1980s ''.]] After ''Manhattan'' in 1979, Keaton and Woody Allen ended their long working relationship, and the film would be their last major collaboration until 1993. In 1978 Keaton became romantically involved with Warren Beatty , and two years later was cast opposite him in '' Reds ''. In the film she played Louise Bryant , a journalist and suppressed housewife in 1917, who flees from her husband to work with radical journalist John Reed (Beatty), and later enters Russia to locate him as he chronicles the Russian Civil War . '' The New York Times '' wrote that Keaton was, "nothing less than splendid as Louise Bryant - beautiful, selfish, funny and driven. It's the best work she has done to date."Vincent Canby. Beatty's Reds with Diane Keaton . The New York Times. 4 December 1981. Retrieved 24 February 2006. Keaton received her second Academy Award nomination for the film. Beatty cast Keaton after seeing her in ''Annie Hall'', as he wanted to bring her natural nervousness and insecure attitude to the role. The production of ''Reds'' was delayed several times since its conception in 1977, and Keaton almost left the project when she believed it would never be produced. Filming finally began two years later. In a 2006 '' Vanity Fair '' story, Keaton described her role as "the everyman of that piece, as someone who wanted to be extraordinary but was probably more ordinary ... I knew what it felt like to be extremely insecure." Assistant Director Simon Relph later stated that Louise Bryant was one of her most difficult roles, and that " 1984 brought '''': "her acting degenerates into hype -- as if she's trying to sell an idea she can't fully believe in."Hal Hinson. The Good Mother . ''The Washington Post''. 4 November 1988. Retrieved 1 March 2006. In 1987 Keaton directed and edited her first feature film, a documentary named ''Heaven'' about the possibility of an Ron Galella and a collection of Clown artwork. 1990s ''.]] By the 1990s, Keaton had established herself as one of the most popular and versatile actresses in in the 1991 family Comedy '' Father Of The Bride ''. She was almost not cast in the film, as the commercial failure of ''The Good Mother'' had strained her relationship with Walt Disney Pictures , the studio of both films. ''Father of the Bride'' was Keaton's first major hit after four years of commercial disappointments. Keaton reprised her role four years later in the sequel, as a woman who becomes pregnant in middle age at the same time as her daughter. A review of the film for the '' San Francisco Examiner '' was one of many in which Keaton once again received comparison to Katharine Hepburn : "No longer relying on that stuttering uncertainty that seeped into all her characterizations of the 1970s, she has somehow become Katharine Hepburn with a deep maternal instinct, that is, she is a fine and intelligent actress who doesn't need to be tough and edgy in order to prove her feminism."Barbara Shulgasser. "Great 'Bride II' cast carries retread plot" . ''San Francisco Chronicle''. 8 December 1995. Retrieved 3 March 2006. Keaton reprised her role of Kay Adams in 1990's '''', her first film with Woody Allen since 1987. Her part was intended for Mia Farrow , but Farrow dropped out of the project after her notorious separation from Allen. The same year, Keaton produced and starred in ''The Lemon Sisters'', a poorly received drama that was Shelved for a year after its completion. Keaton's most successful film of the decade was the 1996 comedy '' following among middle-aged women.Elizabeth Gleick. "Hell Hath No Fury" ''TIME'' magazine. 7 October 1996 Reviews of the film were generally positive for Keaton and her co-stars, and she was even referred to by '' The San Francisco Chronicle '' as "probably Also in 1996, Keaton starred with Meryl Streep in '' Marvin's Room '', as a woman with Leukemia . Roger Ebert stated that "Streep and Keaton, in their different styles, find ways to make Lee and Bessie into much more than the expression of their problems."Roger Ebert. Review- ''Marvin's Room'' . 10 January 1997. Retrieved 25 March 2006. Keaton earned her third Academy Award nomination for the film. Although critically acclaimed, Keaton said that the biggest challenge of the role was understanding the mentality of a person with terminal illness. 2000s ''.]] Keaton's first film of 2000 was '' Hanging Up '' with Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow . Keaton also directed the film, despite claiming in a 1996 interview that she would never direct herself in a film, saying " In 2001 Keaton co-starred with '' claimed that ''Town & Country'' was, "less deserving of a review than it is an obituary ... The corpse took with it the reputations of its starry cast, including Warren Beatty In 2001 and 2002 Keaton starred in four low-budget television films. She played a fanatical nun in the religious drama ''Sister Mary Explains It All'', an impoverished mother in the drama ''On Thin Ice'', and a bookkeeper in the Mob Comedy ''Plan B''. In ''Crossed Over'' she played Beverly Lowry, a woman who forms an unusual friendship with the first and only woman executed while on death row in Texas , Karla Faye Tucker . Keaton's first major hit since 1996 came in 2003's '' nomination for her role in the film. Most recently, Keaton starred in the moderately successful 2005 comedy '' The Family Stone '' with Sarah Jessica Parker . Keaton has also served as a producer on films and television series. She produced the FOX series '' Pasadena '', which was cancelled after airing only four episodes in 2001 but later completed its run on Cable in 2005. In 2003 she produced the Gus Van Sant drama '' Elephant '', about a School Shooting . On why she produced the film, she said: "It really makes me think about my responsibilities as an adult to try and understand what's going on with young people." ''Elephant'' production - Diane Keaton. Retrieved 21 March 2006. Keaton has also established herself as a Real Estate developer. She has resold several mansions in Southern California after renovating and redesigning them. One of her clients is Madonna , who purchased a US$6.5 million Beverly Hills mansion from Keaton in 2003. Diane Keaton's good homework pays off . Contact Music. 16 May 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2006. PERSONAL LIFE Relationships and family Keaton's most famous romance was with director Woody Allen for most of the 1970s. Keaton and Allen first met during Keaton's audition for the Broadway production of ''Play It Again, Sam'', but they did not know each other personally until having dinner after a late night rehearsal. Allen claims that Keaton's sense of humor attracted him to her.Lax, 2000, p. 243. They briefly lived together during the Broadway run of ''Play It Again, Sam'', but their relationship became less formal by the time the film version was produced in 1972.Lax, 2000, p. 308. They went on to produce eight films together from 1971 to 1993. After Keaton's working relationship with Woody Allen diminished in 1979, she began dating her ''Reds'' co-star Warren Beatty . Keaton's involvement with Beatty also made her a regular subject of Tabloid magazines and media at the time, a role to which she was unaccustomed. (''Vanity Fair'' described her in 1985 as "the most reclusive star since Garbo ".) Beatty and Keaton separated shortly after completing ''Reds''. Their separation was believed to have been caused by the strain of making the film, a troubled production with numerous financial and scheduling problems. Keaton still maintains contact with both Allen and Beatty, but describes Allen as one of her closest friends. In July 2001, Keaton publicly announced that she had given up pursuing romance, and stated, "I don't think that because I'm not married it's made my life any less. That old maid myth is garbage." WENN, 2 July 2001 . Retrieved 21 March 2006. Keaton has two Adopted children, a daughter, Dexter, (adopted 1996), and a son, Duke (adopted 2001). Keaton decided to become a mother at the age of 50 after the death of her father, when she began to realize her own mortality. She later said of having children, "Motherhood has completely changed me. It's just about like the most completely humbling experience that I've ever had."Paul Fischer. Diane Keaton: Happily Single and Independent . ''Film Monthly''. 2 December 2003. Retrieved 26 March 2006. Religion Keaton stated that she produced her 1987 documentary ''Heaven'' because, "I was always pretty religious as a kid ... I was primarily interested in religion because I wanted to go to heaven" but also stated she considered herself an Agnostic . Although raised a Methodist, in an October 2002 television interview with Oxygen Keaton stated that she currently considers herself an Atheist . Woody Allen once said of her, "She believes in God, but she also believes that the radio works because there are tiny people inside it." Positive Atheism's Big List of Quotations . Retrieved 23 March 2006. Other activities Keaton is an advocate against Plastic Surgery . She told ''More'' magazine in 2004, "I'm stuck in this idea that I need to be authentic ... My face needs to look the way I feel." Keaton is also active in campaigns with the Los Angeles Conservancy to save and restore historic buildings, particularly in the Los Angeles area. Among the buildings she has been active in restoring include a former home of Frank Lloyd Wright . Keaton had also been active in the failed campaign to save The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles (a hotel featured in ''Reservations''), the location of Robert Kennedy 's assassination in 1968. Since May 2005 she has been a contributing blogger at '' The Huffington Post ''. SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|