Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Diane Keaton Seriously Thought Woody Allen Had "A Great Body"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 20, 2011
Modified Oct 20, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 20, 2011
Modified Oct 20, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Actress Diane Keaton has a new memoir coming out, "Then Again," which dives into her close relationship with her mother, as well as her long term romance/friendship with the one and only Woody Allen. She writes that dating Allen was just like being in a Woody Allen movie...except sexier? "He was even better-looking in real life. He had a great body, and he was physically very graceful," she wrote about ex-boyfriend Warren BeattyAl Pacino Woody Allen.
Keaton calls herself his endearing oaf, and says that when they first met in 1968, she had him "pegged as a cross between a 'White Thing' and the cockroach you couldn't kill." The book comes out November 15, and is excerpted in the November issue of Vogue, arriving at newsstands October 25—but that story is lovingly excerpted by the Associated Press, among other places. Thankfully, it seems their relationship remained strong even after their love affair flamed out in the mid-1970s: "We shared a love of torturing each other with our failures. His insights into my character were dead-on and hilarious. This bond remains the core of our friendship and, for me, love."
Below, check out another quote from the book on Keaton falling in love with Allen when they worked together in Allen's stage comedy "Play It Again, Sam:"
How could I not? I was in love with him before I knew him. He was Woody Allen. Our entire family used to gather around the TV set and watch him on Johnny Carson. He was so hip, with his thick glasses and cool suits," she writes. "But it was his manner that got me, his way of gesturing, his hands, his coughing and looking down in a self-deprecating way while he told jokes like 'I couldn't get a date for New Year's Eve so I went home and I jumped naked into a vat of Roosevelt dimes.'
Tagged
annie hall
diane keaton
great bodies
movies
woody allen
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
Before they attempt to fend off LeBron James and the 76ers on Tuesday, the Knicks will have a chance to show off their winning mentality through their tunnel fits.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 12:43 p.m. ET
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
Independent booksellers are grappling with whether the big-box chain is a threat or an ally in the fight against Amazon.
By
Sonia Rao
Can eligible NYC singles find love with 30 minutes and some really spicy food?
By
Elizabeth Shwe
and
James Ramsay
How the NYC Marathon has changed in the last 50 years
By
Hannah Frishberg
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .