Woody Allen remembers 'magical' ex Diane Keaton in a heartfelt tribute

Eminent actor-filmmaker Woody Allen has penned a moving tribute to his ex-partner Diane Keaton, following her death over the past weekend.

A day after Oscar-winning actor Diane Keaton breathed her last on Saturday, October 11, aged 79, her ex-beau and one of her first romantic partners, Woody Allen, remembered her in an emotional essay, published by a foreign publication.

Allen, who shared a significant personal and professional relationship with Keaton, after he cast her for his Broadway production ‘Play It Again, Sam’, in 1968, and the two continued to collaborate on at least eight of his films despite their brief romance, penned for his former ladylove, “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.”

“Unlike anyone the planet has experienced or is unlikely to ever see again, her face and laugh illuminated any space she entered,” Allen continued and recalled his first meeting with his then-future muse at the Morosco Theatre, who was fresh from Orange County at that time, and was still working as a coat check girl during her debut gig in ‘Hair’, when she was recommended by acting teacher Sandy Meisner to him.

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“I first laid eyes on her lanky beauty at an audition, and thought, ‘If Huckleberry Finn was a gorgeous young woman, he’d be Keaton,'” the four-time Oscar-winner furthered. “She was shy, I was shy, and with two shy people, things can get pretty dull.”

However, after their infamous dinner outing following a late-night rehearsal, which quickly changed their relationship dynamics for the days to come, Allen noted, “She was so charming, so beautiful, so magical, that I questioned my sanity. I thought: Could I be in love so quickly?”

“As time went on, I made movies for an audience of one, Diane Keaton. I never read a single review of my work and cared only what Keaton had to say about it.  If she liked it, I counted the film as an artistic success,” he divulged. “She had huge talent for comedies and drama, but she could also dance and sing with feeling. She also wrote books and did photography, made collages, decorated homes, and directed films. Finally, she was a million laughs to be around.”

With a poignant reflection of Keaton’s legacy, Allen 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.”