Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles.

She adopted her mother’s maiden name, “Keaton,” when registering with Actors’ Equity because there was already a Diane Hall. Michael Keaton later took her surname after discovering that his legal name, Michael Douglas, was already taken. Though he did it for the sound of the name, not because he adored her.

She made her film debut in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970). She became widely known for her role as Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather (1972).

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Annie Hall (1977). The character Annie Hall was partially inspired by her: “Annie” was her nickname, and “Hall” was her original surname. Her fashion in Annie Hall; the men’s ties, vests, and fedora sparked a trend of women adopting menswear styles.

She was never married, though Al Pacino later regretted not doing asking her. She adopted two children later in life: a daughter, Dexter, in 1996, and a son, Duke, in 2001.

Her mother’s journal once described Diane as: “At times, she’s so basic, at others so wise, it frightens me.”

She had a somewhat disadvantageous height of around 5′8″ (173 cm), which many casting directors considered “too tall” to pair with shorter leading men.

Her character Kay in The Godfather was cast in part because director Francis Ford Coppola wanted someone “offbeat” for the role. For The Godfather, she earned a modest fee (reported to be around $6,000) despite the film’s massive success. She refused to watch The Godfather until decades later, saying she couldn’t stand looking at herself.

She said she “liked to wear men’s neckties” simply because she liked them — as one article put it: “She liked to wear men’s neckties, so she wore them.”

She has said that two of her greatest passions are architecture and pigeons, both of which are featured in her photography books.