Woody Allen has paid a heartfelt tribute to his late friend and former lover Diane Keaton.

The 89-year-old filmmaker - who dated the actress in the early 1970s and went on to make eight movies with her - has written a lengthy article reflecting on his bond with the Oscar-winning star following her death over the weekend, and he told how he fell for her as soon as they met while working on his stage show Play It Again, Sam.

He wrote in a tribute published on The Free Press: “Unlike anyone the planet has experienced or is unlikely to ever see again, her face and laugh illuminated any space she entered.

"I first laid eyes on her lanky beauty at an audition and thought, If Huckleberry Finn was a gorgeous young woman, he’d be Keaton...

"For the first week of rehearsal we never spoke a word

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