Woody Allen pays glowing tribute to Diane Keaton

US actor and filmmaker Woody Allen has paid a lengthy, glowing tribute to Diane Keaton who died on Saturday aged 79.

Writing in The Free Press, Allen described Keaton as "unlike anyone the planet has experienced or is unlikely to ever see again," adding that "her face and laugh illuminated any space she entered".

In a long personal essay, Allen recalled first meeting Keaton in 1969 during rehearsals for his play Play It Again, Sam before going on to make eight films with her including Annie Hall, which she won best actress for at the 1977 Oscars.

"As time went on I made movies for an audience of one, Diane Keaton," wrote Allen.

"I never read a single review of my work and cared only what Keaton had to say about it."

In Annie Hall, Keaton played the role of the film's quirky, insecure and free-spirited titular star, who Allen's character, Alvy Singer, falls in love with.

The pair were at one point romantically involved in real life.

Reminiscing on the first time they met, Allen remembered thinking: "If Huckleberry Finn [writer Mark Twain's fictional vagabond] was a gorgeous young woman, he'd be Keaton."

He added that the world was now a "drearier" place without her in it.

"Still, there are her movies. And her great laugh still echoes in my head."

She starred in other Allen titles such as Manhattan, Sleeper and Radio Days.

Keaton remained a supporter of Allen, a controversial figure, who was accused of molesting his daughter Dylan, which he has always denied.

No charges have ever been brought against the star.

She told the Guardian in 2023: "He gave me everything. He really did. Woody made it loose. That helped me enormously."

Los Angeles-born Keaton shot to fame through her role as Kay Adams-Corleone in the Godfather films, before going on to feature in movies like Father of the Bride and Fellow First Wives Club.

Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, like fellow US filmmaker Allen, also paid tribute to the "extraordinary" actress over the weekend.

In a post shared on social media, Coppola said: "Words can't express the wonder and talent of Diane Keaton. Endlessly intelligent, so beautiful.

"From her earliest performances in Hair and throughout her amazing career, she was an extraordinary actor."

He continued: "I saw her in the film Lovers and Other Strangers and knew I had to have her play Kay in The Godfather, (which she told me she based on my wife Ellie) and her wonderful work in Annie Hall, while simultaneously setting a new fashion trend.

"Everything about Diane was creativity personified."