Quirky Keaton's smile fades

CHARACTER: OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS, 79, REMEMBERED FOR HER MANY OFFBEAT ROLES

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PRESENCE. Diane Keaton attends a film premiere in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2019. Pictures: AFP

(AFP)

Actress Diane Keaton, known for her Oscar-winning performance in 1977's Annie Hall and her role in The Godfather films, has died at the age of 79.

Details were not immediately available and Keaton's loved ones have asked for privacy, a family spokesperson told People, which said the actress died on Saturday in California.

Keaton was a frequent collaborator of director Woody Allen, portraying the titular character in Annie Hall, the charming girlfriend of Allen's comic Alvy Singer.

The film also garnered Oscars for best picture, best director and best original screenplay, cementing Keaton's place as one of the industry's top actresses and an offbeat style icon, as well.

The actress made her mark costarring in eight Allen movies, from Play It Again, Sam (1972) to Manhattan (1979) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993).

In The Godfather films, she played Kay Adams, the girlfriend and eventual wife of Al Pacino's Michael Corleone.

Apart from the Allen cannon, fans adored her portrayal as Steve Martin's wife in the 1991 comedy