Diane Keaton, pictured in 2019, had listed her Brentwood home for US$29 million just months before her death. Photo / Getty Images
Diane Keaton, pictured in 2019, had listed her Brentwood home for US$29 million just months before her death. Photo / Getty Images
The late actress Diane Keaton’s health took a rapid turn for the worse in the lead-up to her death, a friend of the star has revealed.
Keaton died in California aged 79 on the morning of October 12 (NZT), her family confirmed to People.
No further details were immediately availableand Keaton’s family have asked for privacy as they grieve.
An insider close to the Oscar-winning actress, who dominated screens for decades with lead roles including in The Godfather film trilogy, Annie Hall (1977) and Something’s Gotta Give (2003), has since opened up about Keaton’s death, describing it as “sudden” and “unexpected” in an exclusive interview with People.
“She declined very suddenly, which was heartbreaking for everyone who loved her,” they said.
Keaton chose to list her “dream home” – which featured as the subject of her own interior design book, The House that Pinterest Built – in March this year for about US$29 million ($50.44m).
The First Wives Club actress was an avid home flipper and spent eight years completely renovating the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom 1920s home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood.
She moved into the property upon completion in 2017 and had resided there ever since.
A separate source told People that Keaton was once seen regularly walking her golden retriever, Reggie, in and around the hill-fronting neighbourhood, but had seemingly disappeared from public view in recent months.
Diane Keaton, pictured with her golden retriever Reggie in the late star's final Instagram post, has died. Photo / @diane_keaton
“She was always very nice, funny and chatty,” they said.
“She’d talk to her dog like he was a person. She was eccentric and had this old-school Hollywood aura. She was very, very special.”
Keaton rose to fame in the 1970s after moving from a Broadway theatre career to the big screen.
After appearing in the role of Kay Adams-Corleone – Michael Corleone’s second wife – in The Godfather trilogy, Keaton went on to star in more than 60 films, including eight with longstanding friend and ex-partner Woody Allen, 89.
