Diane Keaton chose to become a mother in her 50s when she adopted two kids and started raising them as her own, all by herself.
She was a doting mother to her daughter Dexter and her son Duke, both now adults, prior to her shocking death at age 79 on Saturday, October 11.
She never married and chose to raise her 29-year-old daughter and 25-year-old son as a single mom.
She once explained that she ‘thought’ a lot about becoming a mother and decided she was not going to wait for a partner — nor until she was felt completely ready to step into the role.
‘I was never going to be prepared to be a mother,’ she told Ladies Home Journal in 2008, according to People.
‘Motherhood was not an urge I couldn’t resist,’ she continued. ‘It was more like a thought I’d been thinking for a very long time. So I plunged in.’
Diane Keaton chose to become a mother in her 50s when she adopted two kids and started raising them as her own, all by herself
She never married and chose to adopt children when she was in her 50s; pictured in 1996
The Godfather star, who famously dated Al Palcino, also once opened up about her decision to not get married and explained she was sure of it from a young age.
‘I think I’m the only one in my generation, and maybe before, who has been a single woman all her life,’ she told the outlet.
She previously had flings with Pacino as well as Warren Beatty and her Annie Hall director Woody Allen among many others but intentionally chose not to settle down with any of them.
‘It wouldn’t have been a good idea for me to have married,’ she explained before admitting a wife was not a role she ever wanted to play.
‘I remember one day in high school, this guy came up to me and said, “One day you’re going to make a good wife.”
‘And I thought, “I don’t want to be a wife. No.” I’m really glad I didn’t, and I’m sure they’re happy about it too,’ she said while referring to her famous exes.
And though she did not want to be a wife in real life, much of her most famous roles consisted of her exploring the theme of motherhood through marriage.
In her 1996 dramedy The First Wives Club, she played that role as she starred alongside Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn.
She was a doting mother to her daughter Dexter and her son Duke, both now adults, prior to her shocking death at age 79; pictured in August 2022
She once explained that she ‘thought’ a lot about becoming a mother and decided she was not going to wait for a partner — nor until she was felt completely ready to step into the role; pictured in July 2023
In 2007, Keaton also opened up about raising children in Hollywood, especially as her children prefer to stay out of the spotlight and have not expressed any interest in becoming an actor like her; pictured in September 2023
Only on rare occasions do her kids make public appearances like they did to support their mother at her Hand & Footprint Ceremony at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre in August 2022. When she was asked what she felt to have them by her side for an event like that, she simply replied: ‘Everything. I love them’
In 1991, she starred in Father of the Bride opposite Steve Martin, who was the former while she was the latter.
In 2005, she told Life Magazine about how she was settling into the motherhood role after adopting her second child four years before and welcoming home her son.
‘The shocking thing is that I worry differently now. Before kids, if I worried, it was only about myself, but that’s all you do is worry as a parent. It’s rule number one in parenting: secretly worry without letting the kids know you’re worried.’
Her eldest daughter got married to her now-husband Jordan White in 2021.
For the special occasion, Keaton wore a cream pantsuit with her signature hat and glasses. According to the outlet, she graduated with an associate’s degree in veterinary technology from Carrington College California-Pomona.
As for her son, when he was little, Duke seemingly showed an early passion for photography.
In 2009, Keaton brought her son to a Los Angeles Lakers game and Duke, who was age nine at the time, was reportedly so busy taking photos of the game and even snapped a close-up photo of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
In 2007, Keaton also opened up about raising children in Hollywood, especially as her children prefer to stay out of the spotlight and have not expressed any interest in becoming an actor like her.
‘They have no interest in what I do, which I think is very healthy,’ she told People in at the time. ‘We live a relatively normal — well, sort of normal — life.’
Only on rare occasions do her kids make public appearances like they did to support their mother at her Hand & Footprint Ceremony at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre in August 2022.
When she was asked what she felt to have them by her side for an event like that, she simply replied: ‘Everything. I love them.’
