“It was so unexpected, especially for someone with such strength and spirit.”
Veteran actress Diane Keaton died in California aged 79, a family spokesperson confirmed. Photo / Getty Images
In her final months, Keaton was cared for and spent time with only her closest family members, who desired to have near-absolute privacy.
“Even longtime friends weren’t fully aware of what was happening,” the insider added.
Keaton chose to list her “dream home” – which featured as the subject of her own interior design book The House that Pinterest Built – in March this year for about US$29 million ($50.44m).
The First Wives Club actress was an avid home flipper and spent eight years completely renovating the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom 1920s home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood.
She moved into the property upon completion in 2017 and had resided there ever since.
A separate source told People that Keaton was once seen regularly walking her golden retriever, Reggie, in and around the hill-fronting neighbourhood, but had seemingly disappeared from public view in recent months.
Diane Keaton pictured with her golden retriever Reggie in the late star’s final Instagram post. Photo / @diane_keaton
“She was always very nice, funny and chatty,” they said.
“She’d talk to her dog like he was a person. She was eccentric and had this old-school Hollywood aura. She was very, very special.”
Keaton rose to fame in the 1970s after moving from a Broadway theatre career to the big screen.
After appearing in the role of Kay Adams-Corleone – Michael Corleone’s second wife – in The Godfather trilogy, Keaton went on to star in more than 60 films, including eight with longstanding friend and ex-partner Woody Allen, 89.
Friends, colleagues and fellow celebrities who admired the veteran actress have continued to pay homage since the news of her death broke in an outpouring of praise for Keaton and the legacy she left behind.
Keaton is survived by her two children, daughter Dexter, 29, and Duke, 25, who she adopted in 1996 and 2002 respectively.
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