The filmmaker says it's a 'drearier world' after Keaton's death at 79. Woody Allen honors Diane Keaton in heartfelt essay: 'Unlike anyone the planet has experie

The filmmaker says it's a 'drearier world' after Keaton's death at 79.

Woody Allen honors Diane Keaton in heartfelt essay: 'Unlike anyone the planet has experienced'

The filmmaker says it's a 'drearier world' after Keaton's death at 79.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

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October 13, 2025 11:45 a.m. ET

Diane Keaton and Woody Allen in 'Annie Hall'. Credit:

Woody Allen paid to his former muse and ex Diane Keaton, saying it's a 'drearier world' without her.**** The 89-year-old filmmaker penned an emotional essay for The Free Press honoring Keaton after her death on Saturday. The beloved actress was 79.

"It's grammatically incorrect to say' most unique,' but all rules of grammar, and I guess anything else, are suspended when talking about Diane Keaton," Allen began. "Unlike anyone the planet has experienced or is unlikely to ever see again, her face and laugh illuminated any space she entered."

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton on June 20, 1970.

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

The filmmaker, who dated Keaton in the early 1970s, recalled first spotting the actress at an audition for his and David Merrick's play, *Play It Again, Sam*. However, he explained that they didn't really get to know each other until they grabbed food together one day during rehearsals. **

"That was our first moment of personal contact," he wrote. "The upshot is that she was so charming, so beautiful, so magical, that I questioned my sanity. I thought: Could I be in love so quickly?"**

The pair began dating shortly afterward, and Keaton quickly became Allen's sounding board on whether or not his films were any good. **

"About then, I showed her my first film privately and prepared her for what a mess it was, how awful, a total failure. She sat through *Take the Money and Run* and said the movie was very funny and very original. Her words," he stated. "Its success proved her correct and I never doubted her judgment again. I showed her every film I made after that and grew to care only about her appraisals."

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Keaton would go on to star in eight of Allen's films, including the 1972 film adaptation of *Play It Again, Sam*, 1973's *Sleeper*, 1975's *Love and Death*, 1977's* Annie Hall*, 1978's *Interiors*, 1979's *Manhattan*, 1987's *Radio Days*, and 1993's *Manhattan Murder Mystery*. She won the Best Actress Oscar for *Annie Hall*, whose title character was inspired by the actress. The film also won Best Picture, and Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Allen, the last of which he shared with Marshall Brickman. **

In addition to having a good eye for films, Allen noted that Keaton had a wide range of talents outside of just "comedies and drama" and could "dance and sing with feeling," "wrote books and did photography, made collages, decorated homes, and directed films." He added, "Finally, she was a million laughs to be around."**

He also described Keaton's fashion sense as "a sight to behold," noting that she put "together clothing that defied logic but always worked," and that her style became "more elegant" in later years.

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Allen explained that Keaton "taught me so much" during the years that they lived together, including about the reality of battling bulimia. "This slim actress ate like Paul Bunyan," he wrote. "Only years later when she wrote a memoir did she describe her eating disorder, but when I was experiencing it, I could only think I'd never seen anyone eat like that outside of a documentary on whales." **

He also recalled an instance in which he was introduced to her family at Thanksgiving and joined in on their great big penny poker tournament. "I wound up the big winner, clearing about 80 cents," Allen wrote. "I don't think the Grammys ever wanted me back. They thought I was hustling them."

Diane Keaton in 2014.

WALTER BIERI/EPA/Shutterstock

Still, he noted, "This was Keaton's world, her people, her background. It was amazing that this beautiful yokel went on to become an award-winning actress and sophisticated fashion icon. We had a few great personal years together and finally we both moved on, and why we parted only God and Freud might be able to figure out." **

Allen acknowledged that Keaton went on to date "more fascinating" men than him after they went their split, but that the pair always remained close. "I kidded Keaton that we'd wind up — she like Norma Desmond, me like Erich von Stroheim, once her director, now her chauffeur," he joked. "But the world is constantly being redefined, and with Keaton's passing it is redefined once again."**

He concluded, "A few days ago the world was a place that included Diane Keaton. Now it's a world that does not. Hence, it's a drearier world. Still, there are her movies. And her great laugh still echoes in my head."**** Keaton and Allen remained close friends after their breakup. The actress defended Allen amid his controversies. In 1992, Mia Farrow, Allen's then-partner, accused him of abusing their daughter Dylan Farrow. Allen, who had begun a relationship with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Farrow whom he'd later marry, has denied the allegations and was never charged. The accusations resurfaced in 2018 during the #MeToo movement, prompting Keaton to speak up.**** "Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him," Keaton wrote on X at the time. "It might be of interest to take a look at the '60 Minutes' interview from 1992 and see what you think."**

Allen, who presented Keaton with her 2017 AFI Life Achievement Award, is one of a growing list of Keaton's former costars and celebrity friends who have remembered the acclaimed actress after her death, including Steve Martin, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Cynthia Nixon, Mandy Moore, KaDee Strickland, Kate Hudson, Bette Midler, and Goldie Hawn.

"You've left us with a trail of fairy dust, filled with particles of light and memories beyond imagination. How do we say goodbye? What words can come to mind when your heart is broken?" Hawn, who costarred with Keaton in 1996's The First Wives Club, wrote on Instagram. You never liked praise, so humble, but now you can't tell me to 'shut up,' honey. There was, and will be, no one like you."

Details surrounding Keaton's death are not available at this time. A family spokesperson has expressed her loved ones' desire for privacy, PEOPLE reports.**

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