The Life of 70s Film Icon Diane Keaton

As she begins working professionally in New York, she joins Actors’ Equity Association, the union required for stage performers. Because another actress is already registered under the name Diane Hall, she is required to choose a different professional name.

She adopts “Keaton,” her mother’s maiden name, becoming Diane Keaton. The change is practical, but it also marks the beginning of her public identity as an actress. She later treated the name as part of her artistic persona, separating her private self from the career she was building.