Book Club Co stars Mourn the Loss of Diane Keaton
Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen, costars from Book Club, have shared their heartfelt condolences following the passing of their fellow actress, Diane Keaton, at the age of 79.
“It’s hard to believe…or accept…that Diane has passed,” Fonda, 87, conveyed via Instagram on Saturday, October 11.
Keaton’s publicist confirmed her death to People on Saturday, though no further details were initially disclosed. Her family — including her two children, daughter Dexter and son Duke — “asked for privacy” during their period of grief.
In her remembrance, Fonda characterized Keaton as a “spark of life and light” who never took herself too seriously.
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“[She was] constantly giggling at her own foibles, being limitlessly creative…in her acting, her wardrobe, her books, her friends, her homes, her library, her world view,” Fonda reminisced. “Unique is what she was. And, though she didn’t know it or wouldn’t admit it, man she was a fine actress!”
The quartet of actresses collaborated on the 2018 romantic comedy Book Club, alongside fellow Hollywood icons Bergen and Steenburgen. The Bill Holderman-directed film — which garnered over $100 million at the box office — featured the four stars as friends who revitalize their romantic lives after reading the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey in their book club.
“This is a huge loss, both personally and for all of us,” Bergen, 79, told People on Saturday. “Diane was a true artist — tremendously gifted and uniquely talented in so many disciplines, yet also modest and wonderfully eccentric. I will miss her terribly.”
Steenburgen, 72, described Keaton as “magic[al]” in her own statement, reflecting on her costar’s unparalleled standing in Hollywood history.
“There was no one, nor will there ever be, anyone like her,” Steenburgen stated on Saturday. “I loved her and felt blessed to be her friend. My love to her family. What a wonder she was!!!”
Numerous other tributes poured in following the unexpected announcement of Keaton’s death, including from her First Wives Club costar Bette Midler, who expressed how “unbearably sad” it was to lose the “brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary” actress.
“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star,” Midler wrote via Instagram. “What you saw was who she was…oh, la, lala!”
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Ben Stiller referred to Keaton as “one of the greatest film actors ever” via X, while Henry Winkler honored the Oscar winner as “an extraordinarily talented woman.”
“Every so often a person comes along that defies all definition,” Keaton’s Mrs. Soffel costar Matthew Modine wrote via X. “They’re a wonderful mystery. Sometimes they go digging within themselves attempting to discover something hidden inside — and then discover something magical — which they keep private. Diane was like that. All that and more — all packaged behind her gorgeous smile, razor sharp wit, and deliciously infectious laugh. Good speed, sister.”
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Keaton’s career spanned nearly six decades, during which she earned a Best Actress Oscar for 1977’s Annie Hall. She later ventured into writing and filmmaking, in addition to continuing her acting career in popular comedies until shortly before her passing. (Her final cinematic appearance was in the 2024 comedy Summer Camp, where she starred alongside Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard.)
