The death of Diane Keaton at 79 brings into sharp focus the extraordinary resilience she possessed, as she spent much of her adult life fighting a grueling two-front war against both cancer and addiction. The actress navigated these concurrent battles with a quiet strength that was only fully revealed when she chose to speak about them.
The first front was her external, physical battle with skin cancer. This war was declared when she was just 21 and continued for decades. It required constant defense (her hats), strategic medical interventions (multiple surgeries for two types of cancer), and a deep understanding of the enemy (her family’s genetic predisposition).
The second front was an internal, psychological war against bulimia, which she described as a powerful addiction. This was a secret battle fought behind the lines of her public life, fueled by career pressures and marked by a compulsive cycle of binging and purging that reached 20,000 calories a day.
Fighting on two fronts simultaneously is exhausting, yet Keaton managed to build a legendary career amidst this turmoil. Her ability to excel professionally while managing a chronic physical illness and a severe mental health crisis is a testament to her incredible inner fortitude.
Her eventual victory came from seeking reinforcements, in the form of intensive therapy for her addiction. This allowed her to win the internal war, which in turn gave her more strength to continue managing the external one. Her life story is a profound lesson in the complexities of health and the courage it takes to fight on multiple fronts.