With the passing of Diane Keaton at 79, we are left with two distinct but equally important archives of her life. The first is her celebrated filmography, a collection of iconic performances that will be studied for generations. The second is her health story, a powerful, self-told archive of struggle and resilience that offers a different kind of immortality.
The film archive showcases her immense talent, her range, and her cultural impact. From “The Godfather” to “Annie Hall” to “Something’s Gotta Give,” these films are a permanent record of her artistic genius and her unique contribution to cinema.
The health archive, preserved in her memoir and in interviews, documents a different kind of performance: the performance of survival. This archive contains the raw data of her life—the 20,000-calorie binges, the two surgeries for squamous cell cancer, the five-day-a-week therapy sessions. It is a stark, honest, and unedited record.
While her films tell the stories of fictional characters, her health story tells the story of her own character—her courage, her honesty, and her ultimate triumph over adversity. It is a narrative that is, in its own way, as compelling and instructive as any of her movies.
To fully appreciate Diane Keaton’s legacy is to consult both archives. One shows us the artist she was, and the other shows us the human she was. Together, they paint a complete portrait of a truly remarkable life.