Diane Keaton, Dead at 79, Once Revealed What Her ‘Favorite Thing in Life’ Was — and the Answer May Surprise You

Hollywood is in mourning after the death of Diane Keaton, the beloved Oscar-winning actress who died at age 79.

Three years before her passing on October 11, the Annie Hall and Godfather star opened up about her fiercely independent life, her children, and her greatest loves — from family to photography — in her 2022 book Saved.

In the coffee table collection, Keaton shared images that meant the world to her — from tributes to her classic films to artfully arranged photo negatives and even shots she took herself on the sets of her movies, including 1981’s Reds.

“I really enjoy seeing, I guess my favorite thing in life is the fact that I can see,” Diane said. “It’s just so unbelievable.”

By then, her children Dexter, 27, and Duke, 22, were grown, and Diane was still bursting with creative energy.

“Diane is always busy doing something. She’s passionate about writing and photography,” a close friend told the National Enquirer at the time, adding that “buying, flipping and selling properties” was one of her favorite pastimes.

“Real estate is my obsession,” Diane confessed, proudly referencing her stunning 8,000-square-foot Brentwood dream home, completed in 2017.

With her daughter married and her son off at college, Diane’s constant companion was her golden retriever, Reggie. “Talk about unconditional love. Dogs don’t talk back. They’re so comforting,” she said. “Human relationships are so complicated. It’s not so complicated with a dog.”

The never-married star — whose famous romances included Al Pacino, Warren Beatty and Woody Allen — was candid about her complicated love life.

“I think I should not have been so seduced by talent. When you’re both doing the same job, it’s not so easy,” she admitted. “I should have found just a nice human being, kind of a family guy.”

Motherhood, however, became her proudest role. Diane adopted daughter Dexter in 1996 and son Duke in 2001 as a single mom.

“Motherhood was not an urge I couldn’t resist. It was more like a thought I’d been thinking for a very long time,” she said.

Becoming a mother, Diane admitted, made her “less selfish.”

A friend previously said: “Diane is an amazing mother. She and Dexter text or chat every day. That’s how close they are.”

Her son Duke, too, inherited her creative streak. “He’s studying art and loves photography and fashion, just like his mom,” said the friend.

Diane even had joked about her dating drought. “I have a lot of male friends, but no dates,” she told InStyle in 2019.

Even in her 70s, Diane never lost her curiosity or humor about love and life. “What is love between a man and a woman? It’s going to be up and down, and you’ve gotta really adjust to things,” she told Elle in 2015. “[But] you’ve got to still be charmed by them, and also still like the person.”