STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton spent some time on Staten Island in her younger days, filming scenes for the legendary 1972 classic, “The Godfather.”
Keaton’s character, Kay Adams-Corleone, is one of the few main female characters to grace the silver screen in the film.
Her scene in the beginning of the film is one to remember: Sitting at a table with Al Pacino’s character, Michael Corleone, she is regaled the tale of Vito Corleone’s mobster cruelty.
The scene, just shy of a minute and a half long, has been replayed on YouTube thousands upon thousands of times.
In the comments, many users offered their condolences for Keaton.
The actress passed away Saturday at the age of 79.
The Los Angeles Fire Department, according People Magazine, transported a 79-year-old woman to a hospital in the area after they responded to the actress’s abode Saturday morning.
Her cause of death is not known.
A spokesperson for Keaton told the outlet the following: “There are no further details available at this time, and her family has asked for privacy in this moment of great sadness.”
The unexpected news was met with shock around the world. Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in that necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family.
She played a businessperson who unexpectedly inherits an infant in “Baby Boom,” the mother of the bride in the beloved remake of “Father of the Bride,” a newly single woman in “First Wives Club,” and a divorced playwright who gets involved with Jack Nicholson’s music executive in “Something’s Gotta Give.”
Keaton won her first Oscar for “Annie Hall” and would go on to be nominated three more times, for “Reds,” “Marvin’s Room” and “Something’s Gotta Give.”
Keaton was born Diane Hall in January 1946 in Los Angeles, though her family was not part of the film industry she would find herself in. Her mother was a homemaker and photographer, and her father was in real estate and civil engineering.
Keaton was drawn to theater and singing while in school in Santa Ana, Calif., and she dropped out of college after a year to make a go of it in Manhattan. Actors’ Equity already had a Diane Hall in their ranks, and she took Keaton, her mother’s maiden name, as her own.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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