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Diane Keaton is honored at a Women in Entertainment breakfast

Diane Keaton, who starred in 'Annie Hall' and 'The Godfather,' among other films, received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at the breakfast. Keaton paid tribute to her parents during her speech.

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John Shearer/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/AP
Diane Keaton and 'Scandal' actress Kerry Washington chat at The Hollywood Reporter's 21st Annual Women in Entertainment Power 100 breakfast.
  • By Sandy Cohen Associated Press

| BEVERLY HILLS, California

When Diane Keaton learned she would receive the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, the 66-year-old actress immediately began panicking about her speech.

Keaton accepted the diamond-and-ruby-encrusted prize Wednesday at the Hollywood Reporter's 21st annual Women in Entertainment breakfast honoring the most powerful women in Hollywood.

She opened by warning that her speech wasn't funny, then proceeded to crack up the crowd inside the ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel.

"I just wanted my speech to be the most touching, heartfelt, funniest, yet also persuasive, because that's what a leader is," the Oscar winner said. "I just knew that my speech had to be way better than Meryl Streep's speech or Jane Fonda or Helen Mirren" — all previous Lansing Award winners.

Keaton paid tribute to her parents, particularly her mother, who died in 2008 of Alzheimer's. Keaton revealed all the things she wished she would have said to her mom, describing her as "my first and most inspired leader."

Wednesday's breakfast also featured speeches by Sandra Fluke, who encouraged the entertainers and executives in attendance to show girls in leadership positions on screen and hire women for such positions off screen; and Mindy Kaling.

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