Diane Keaton’s love for Woody Allen

Diane Keaton was besotted with Woody Allen long before they met, said Tirdad Derakhshani in The Philadelphia Inquirer. “[My] family used to gather around the TV and watch him on Johnny Carson,” she says. “He was so hip, with his thick glasses and cool suits.”

In 1969, the actress appeared in Allen’s stage comedy Play It Again, Sam. They fell in love. “He couldn’t help himself; he loved neurotic girls.” But Allen never knew the true extent of Keaton’s insecurities. Whenever possible, she’d wriggle out of their dates. Then, in the privacy of her apartment, Keaton would eat enormous amounts of food—a bucket of fried chicken, piles of french fries, and a whole pound cake—and vomit. “The demands of bulimia outshone my desire for Woody. Pathetic but true.”

Allen had no idea about Keaton’s condition, but suspecting she was depressed, suggested she visit a psychoanalyst. After 18 months of treatment, Keaton started eating normally again. Keaton and Allen broke up soon after, but she still holds a torch for the director. “I miss Woody. He’d cringe if he knew how much I care about him, but what am I supposed to do? I still love him.”

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