Her inner circle was sworn to silence. Now, a close friend is finally revealing the heartbreaking secret Diane Keaton fought to hide during the final, tragic weeks before her death.
Carol Bayer Sager is giving insight into the final weeks of friend Diane Keaton’s life. In an interview with People published October 12th, the songwriter details how the Oscar winner had spent much of 2025 away from her Los Angeles home due to the aftermath of the deadly wildfires in January.
Explaining she had to go to Palm Springs because her house had been damaged inside and they had to clean everything. She was down there for a while, and when she came back, I was kind of stunned by how much weight she’d lost. Carol, who worked alongside Diane on her only single, First Christmas last year, then shares the final time she saw her friend, noticing that the actress’s health hadn’t seemed to have improved, saying, “I saw her two or three weeks ago, and she was very thin.
She had lost so much weight.” However, Carol says Diane, who passed away October 11th at the age of 79, didn’t seem to be letting her failing health get her down. Telling the outlet, “She was a magic light for everyone. I just loved her. She was so special. She just lit up a room with her energy.
She was happy and upbeat and taking photographs of everything she saw. She was completely creative. She never stopped creating.
Diane Keaton’s Friend Details Final Weeks Before Her Death
Originally appeared on E! Online
Diane Keaton’s loved ones are still reeling after her death.
Following the Father of the Bride’s death at age 79 on Oct. 11, her longtime friend Carole Bayer Sager—a Grammy and Oscar-winning songwriter—detailed her last visit with Diane, which she said occurred only “two to three weeks ago.”
“She was very thin,” Carole recalled to People, saying she’d been surprised by Diane’s appearance. “She had lost so much weight.”
The 81-year-old—who co-wrote Diane’s single “First Christmas”—shared she’d seen the First Wives Club actress less frequently this year, as Diane had spent more time in Palm Springs after her home had been damaged in the California wildfires.
“She was down there for a while, and when she came back,” Carole said, “I was kind of stunned by how much weight she’d lost.”
But despite any challenges Diane—whose cause of death has not yet been shared—may have been enduring, Carole detailed her impact on all those around her.
“She was a magic light for everyone,” she gushed. “I just loved her. She was so special, she just lit up a room with her energy. She was happy and upbeat and taking photographs of everything she saw.”
Carole added, “She was completely creative; she never stopped creating.”
Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images / Rob Latour/Shutterstock
And indeed, just 10 months before her death, Diane detailed how Carole helped her achieve a lifelong dream: releasing “First Christmas,” her debut solo.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S FINALLY HERE!” Diane wrote on Instagram in November 2024. “MY DEBUT HOLIDAY SINGLE, ‘FIRST CHRISTMAS,’ IS COMING OUT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH.”
She added, “SO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS SONG WITH YOU ALL.”
It was a creative milestone Diane had always wanted to achieve, telling Richard Crouse during a 2014 interview she’d dreamed of being a nightclub singer throughout her youth.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images for WGAW
For Carole, collaborating on “First Christmas” with Diane are memories she will always hold close.
“She so loved recording this song,” she recalled. “She was almost childlike about it.”
She continued, “She was so authentic when she sang it, I mean, she just sang it like she was singing it, and she was sort of acting it, you know, because she is a great actress. And then she’d start to cry when she was singing it. But she did such a beautiful job.”
Keep reading for more tributes from Diane’s many collaborators and loved ones.
Andy Garcia
“The magical Diane Keaton has passed,” he wrote on social media. “Diane will be deeply missed. She will continue to be an American original. A truly unique and sublime artist. A unicorn of sorts. No one like her. Her light will continue to shine forever.”
He continued, “In fact, it will shine even brighter as the years pass. A beacon of spontaneity and originality that we all strive for. I was blessed to be in her light. I will carry it with me forever.”
Michael Douglas
“RIP to my friend Diane Keaton. A heartbreaking loss of one of the greatest icons in our industry,” he wrote on Instagram. “I have so many fond memories of working with Diane on our film And So It Goes nearly twelve years ago. Sending my deepest condolences to the Keaton family during this difficult time.”
Cynthia Nixon
“When I was a kid, Diane Keaton was my absolute idol,” the Sex and the City alum wrote. “I loved her acting. I loved her vibe. I loved her everything. Starting with when I was 12, I tried to dress like her. I wore my hair long. I sported men’s hats and vests and (even though my eyes were fine) I wore bookish glasses because I thought they made me look more like her.”
She continued, “A little more than a decade ago I got to be in a movie called Five Flights Up with her and it was like a dream come true. I was very shy around her, but I think she liked me and that meant everything to me.”
Sarah Jessica Parker
“Diane Keaton has been a point of inspiration for countless actresses,” she wrote. “I include myself among those who loved and admired her. I was very privileged to witness her singular skill and talent on both First Wives Club and The Family Stone.”
She continued, “I will cherish those memories on set as well her touching, delightful and perfectly own cinematic career. Which is a gorgeous legacy of an exquisite person. She will be terribly missed.”
Leonardo DiCaprio
The actor remembered his time working with Diane early in his career, writing, “Diane Keaton was one of a kind. Brilliant, funny, and unapologetically herself. A legend, an icon, and a truly kind human being.”
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