Diane Keaton death: What actress’ final act said about the very private star

New details relating to Diane Keaton’s cause of death emerged today, but it was one final act three days after she died that says the most about the beloved Hollywood star.

Keaton, whose shock passing at the age of 79 earlier this week plunged the world into mourning, was cremated just three days after she died.

The decision to farewell Keaton without any fanfare was most likely in keeping with her wishes.

Indeed, while she spent 55 years in the spotlight, Keaton was one of those rare breeds of celebrity who kept her private life private.

Only yesterday it was revealed Keaton’s cause of death was pneumonia, according to a statement released by her family.

Now it has emerged that Keaton, who never married, was first struck down with the illness in September and saw a doctor on September 24.

She again sought medical help again on October 9 – just two days before an ambulance was called to her home to transport her to hospital, according to TMZ.

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Pneumonia is a serious illness marked by inflammation of the lungs, specifically the small air sacs known as alveoli, according to Healthdirect.

It is particularly dangerous in babies and young children, or people aged 70 and over.

Treatment depends on whether it is caused by a bacteria or virus, and in severe cases it can cause death.

According to Keaton’s death certificate, which was obtained by People, her immediate cause of death was bacterial pneumonia, with no other significant contributing conditions.

It says she was cremated on October 14 – three days after her death.

She is survived by the two children she adopted as a single mother in her 50s, daughter Dexter, 29, and son Duke, 25.

A statement released yesterday said, “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.

“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.”

Keaton began her career on stage in 1968 with a role in the Broadway production of Hair and followed this with a starring role in Woody Allen’s theatre production of Play It Again, Sam, which netted her a Tony Award nomination.

She made her film debut in 1970, and just two years later became a star thanks to her role as gangster’s girlfriend turned wife Kay Adams in The Godfather opposite Al Pacino, who she went on to date off and on from 1974 to 1990.

Her defining role came in 1977 when Allen cast her in the lead role in Annie Hall, which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

She starred in more than 50 films, including hits Reds, Looking for Mr Goodbar and Crimes of the Heart before she reinvented herself as a comedy actress in films such as Father of the Bride and its sequel, and playing quirky and slightly neurotic leads in The First Wives Club and Something’s Gotta Give.

She continued to work and enjoy success in her later years thanks to films such as Book Club and its sequel, as well as Poms, and 2024’s Summer Camp.

She had reportedly signed on for three new projects before her untimely death, none of which had started production.

But despite her decades in the public eye, she was famously tight-lipped about her private life and relationships with Pacino, Woody Allen and 70s heart throb Warren Beatty.

In fact, her relationship with Beatty, which came to an end in the early 80s, and a rekindled relationship with Al Pacino, which ended in the early 90s, were her last public relationships.

She told InStyle in 2019 she had not been on a date for 35 years.

When asked by Vanity Fair in 1985 if she she enjoyed fame she replied, “I think I like to deny it”.

“It suits me to deny it. It’s more comfortable for me to deny it, but I suppose that’s another one of my problems.

“Look, I don’t think it’s such a big deal. I don’t think I’m that big a thing.”

Bill Holderman, who directed her film Book Club, told The Guardian in 2023, “She knows she’s a movie star, but I don’t think she knows she’s a movie star.”

Among the co-stars to pay tribute to her this week following her death were Al Pacino, Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Candice Bergman, Jane Fonda and Steve Martin.

But they were seemingly denied the chance to farewell her in person, with a cremation taking place just three days after her death.

The decision, which was similar to that made by stars including Doris Day, David Bowie, George Harrison, John Belushi, and more recently, Aussie actor Julian McMahon, shows just how much Keaton valued her privacy, both in life and in death.

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