Bette Midler recounted fond memories with her late First Wives Club costar Diane Keaton after her death.
Midler, 79, appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, October 14, where she discussed her relationship with Keaton.
“She was such a genius,” Midler began. “There was something about her that was utterly magical … she was completely her own person and inimitable. She was so authentically herself.”
Midler admitted that prior to the pair connecting alongside Goldie Hawn for The First Wives Club, released in 1996, she had felt intimidated by Keaton when they first met. “I have a great memory of her with Goldie … I had never worked or met them before, and we sat down in a cafe … at a round table and I was so intimidated, ” Midler told Stephen Colbert, 61. “I was a little bit of a newbie. So, we sat there and they started telling stories, and I’ll tell you, I never laughed harder in my whole life. It was brilliant and magical.”
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The appearance came days after Midler paid tribute to Keaton via Instagram following news of her passing at age 79 on Saturday, October 11.
“The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died,” Midler wrote alongside a photo of Keaton. “I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was…oh, la, lala!”
Midler and Keaton’s friendship blossomed alongside Hawn, 79, Maggie Smith and Sarah Jessica Parker in The First Wives Club.
Hawn also shared a moving post in honor of Keaton via Instagram on Saturday.
“Diane, we aren’t ready to lose you. You’ve left us with a trail of fairy dust, filled with particles of light and memories beyond imagination,” the post read. “How do we say goodbye? What words can come to mind when your heart is broken? You never liked praise, so humble, but now you can’t tell me to ‘shut up’ honey. There was, and will be, no one like you.”
She continued, “You stole the hearts of the world and shared your genius with millions, making films that made us laugh and cry in ways only you could. I was blessed to make First Wives Club with you, our days starting with coffee in the makeup trailer, laughing and joking, right through to the very last day of filming. It was a roller coaster of love.”
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Hawn revealed she and Keaton “agreed to grow old together, and one day, maybe live together with all our girlfriends.”
“Well, we never got to live together, but we did grow older together,” the post concluded. “Who knows… maybe in the next life. Shine your fairy dust up there, girlfriend. I’m going to miss the hell out of you. My heart goes out to your beautiful children, Dex and Duke. I love you.”
While Keaton’s official cause of death was not immediately revealed, a friend of the star told People that Keaton “declined very suddenly, which was heartbreaking for everyone who loved her.”
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“In her final months, she was surrounded only by her closest family, who chose to keep things very private,” the friend added. “Even longtime friends weren’t fully aware of what was happening.”
In the years before her death, Keaton revealed what she valued the most in her life while chatting with Carol Kane.
“I value a very strong friendship, like ours, which I’ve depended on for such a long time,” she told Kane via Interview Magazine in June 2021. “I love to walk with my dog. These are the things I love. And I really do love nature. I love exploring California. I like driving to Arizona. I really enjoy seeing. I guess my favorite thing in life is the fact that I can see. It’s just so unbelievable.”
