Diane Keaton's skittish charms have served her well in both comedy and drama during a 35-year film career. she has managed to keep her image fresh and viable in such recent hits as Something's Gotta Give (2003), for which she won her fourth Best Actress Oscar® nomination.

Born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, she studied drama at Santa Ana College before heading for New York City and the Neighborhood Playhouse. After serving as supporting player and understudy in the Broadway production of Hair, Keaton took over a leading role in that musical in 1968. The following year she played opposite Woody Allen in the Broadway production of Play It Again, Sam, then repeated her role in the 1972 film version. Also in 1972, she attracted notice as Kay Corleone in The Godfather, a role she would repeat in the film's two sequels.

Keaton's breakthrough year as an actress was 1977, when she starred in Allen's Annie Hall and won an Oscar® for her original and endearing performance as a neurotic urbanite. Her "look," with its layered, oddly assembled wardrobe and floppy hats, started a fashion craze. The same year she boldly played the promiscuous, tragic heroine of Looking for Mr. Goodbar.

Keaton also gave fine performances in other Allen films, notably Love and Death (1975), Interiors (1978), Manhattan (1979) and Radio Days (1987).

Keaton also received Oscar® nominations for Reds (1981), as bohemian journalist Louise Bryant; and Marvin's Room (1996), as a self-sacrificing woman facing a health crisis. She has alternated mainstream comedies such as Baby Boom (1987) and The First Wives Club (1996) with more demanding roles in such offbeat dramas as Mrs. Soffel (1984) and The Other Sister (1999).

When not performing, Keaton has experimented with publishing photography books and directing episodic TV (Twin Peaks), music videos (Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is a Place on Earth") and features (1995's Unstrung Heroes). She remains very active as an actress, with five film and television projects announced or scheduled for the current year.

The films in TCM's salute to Diane Keaton are Play It Again, Sam (1972), Mrs. Soffel (1984) and Reds (1981).

by Roger Fristoe