The world without Annie Hall - RIP Diane Keaton

Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images

What a year 2025 is turning out to be, with the loss of another great, in the extraordinary Diane Keaton. It is funny feeling so sad about people dying that you’ve never met. But it is the nature of their work, that we would miss them. They gifted us fun, laughter and gave us pause, and most importantly helped us escape our less glamorous lives. So it stands to reason we mourn at least a form of them, the part they so generously shared with us.  

The thing about Ms Keaton was the warmth and vulnerability that she couldn’t hold in, it emanated from every character she played. And her flinty strength, thank you Jack Nicholson, as if her writers just knew her characters had to prevail. The truth of this finite life was such a nasty contradiction to her immortal life on screen, and one none of us wanted to face. 

Many will write about the big films, Annie Hall, The Godfather, First Wives Club but my favourites are in this order: Something’s Gotta Give, The Family Stone and Morning Glory, the latter two where she was not the lead, but stole the show. The parallels between her character Sybil and her own untimely demise, are too much.

“Colleen Peck” in Morning Glory

 Her comedic timing and chemistry with the likes of Jack Nicholson (Somethings Gotta Give), Harrison Ford (Morning Glory) and Richard Gere (Maybe I do) is just something to behold. 

Meryl Streep described Robert Redford as a Lion and indeed I think the moniker fits Diane as well, she was the Hollywood pride’s Lioness, still roaring on screen only last year! Her self-deprecating humour made us love her even more, but she was wrong when she said “I’m hardly Iconic”, her humility made her even more so, if that is even possible. She was an icon to millions and to me. I will miss that smile, the impeccable and intelligent films and the laughter and smiles she invoked. You are a woman of our century - an inspiration for all of us to stand and be counted. Thank you xxxx

RIP Annie 

1947 - 2025

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“One of the Lions has passed” Vale Robert Redford

Back in 2014 I was lucky enough to be in the same room as Robert Redford, and I wrote about the experience, it was the only time in my life I have literally lost my mind to fandom. Today I awoke to the news he had died, aged 89 and surrounded by loved ones in Utah. 

I am profoundly saddened by this news - not because I knew him or was a close loved one, but because he was an icon of a time, and marked history with his art that we attached to our own life moments. 

The Way We Were is one of those epics that embody the hopes and dreams of those that are misfits but brilliant and normally overlooked by the world, and we wait for someone bright enough to notice we are worth the trouble, and Robert Redford's character Hubbell was that for me.

Out of Africa was another seminal moment in time. Meryl Streep was the hero but was only met in strength again by Robert Redford's characterisation of her lover Denys. She wrote today "rest in peace my lovely friend."

Then the inspiring "All the Presidents Men", celebrating the journalists that revealed the watergate scandal that toppled a president

These characters, the quiet strength, the ability to look past the obvious to find something kind, deep and real, were who Robert Redford was for me. A giant, that understood with grace his power and didn't abuse it, but used it to make the world a better place. 

He is a counter point to the celebrity of late, all glitz, hubris and narcissism. A good human first and foremost, with looks and talent that made him a star. Lucky for sure, but his response to that luck is what made me cry this morning, for a man I almost met once, for a man that shaped a generation, we will miss you. 

Thank you for what you gave us Hubbell, Denys, Sundance and Bob. 

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