February 23, 2019
Donen, who received an honorary Oscar in 1997, also directed On the Town, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Charade
Stanley Donen, director of Singin in the Rain, dies aged 94
Stanley Donen, the director of Singin’ in the Rain and other classics of the golden age of Hollywood, has died. He was 94.
Singin’ in the Rain, from 1952, starred Gene Kelly and became a mainstay of popular culture. Donen was also a dancer and choreographer. Among other films he directed were the musicals On the Town (his first film, from 1949 and starring Kelly, his co-director, and Frank Sinatra), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Funny Face (1957), starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn.
He made four films with Cary Grant: Kiss Them For Me (1957), Indiscreet (1958), The Grass is Greener (1960) and Charade, also starring Hepburn (1963).
His last theatrically released film was the Michael Caine sex comedy Blame it on Rio, which flopped in 1984.
Donen was born in Columbia, South Carolina on 13 April 1924. His career in Hollywood was so long, he told Vanity Fair in 2013, “sound was still a fairly new thing when I came into movies. And the reason musicals happened is because of sound. They could put music in the picture! That’s how it all began.”
In a tweet on Saturday which said one of Donen’s sons had confirmed his father’s death, the Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips said the director was “a huge, often neglected talent”.
At the 1997 Oscars, Donen was given an honorary award. Introducing it, the director Martin Scorsese, then himself unrecognised by the Academy, said: “Once upon a time, a lonely boy in South Carolina was sparked by the wonder of movies, captivated by everything from cowboys to comedians to movie monsters. And then he saw his first musical, Flying Down to Rio.”
In his Vanity Fair interview in 2013, Donen said: “I saw Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio when I was nine years old, and it changed my life. It just seemed wonderful, and my life wasn’t wonderful. The joy of dancing to music! And Fred was so amazing, and Ginger [Rogers] – Oh, God! Ginger!”
Donen danced on Broadway, where he met Kelly, with whom he worked as a choreographer in Hollywood. They co-directed On the Town but the partnership was not a smooth one, as Donen told the New York Times in 1996.
“Gene, as a performer, was among the wonders of the 20th century,” he said. “His agility and his talents at being what he would call a song and dance man were very winning.
“What I didn’t like … was his manner offscreen. He could be difficult with me and everyone else. It was always a complicated collaboration, partly because when we began he was a star and I was in the chorus. Then we became co-choreographers. It wasn’t always the happiest thing.”
After Donen’s first marriage ended in divorce, Kelly married his ex-wife, Jeanne Coyne.

Accepting his Oscar from Scorsese, Donen focused on sunnier themes. “Tonight,” he said, “words seem inadequate. In musicals, that’s when we do a song.”
To the delight of the audience, he then sang and danced Cheek to Cheek, from the 1935 Astaire-Rogers classic Top Hat, with his statuette.
The secret of directing success, he confided, was to get the best writers, songwriters and actors and then, “when filming starts, you stay the hell out of the way.
“But you’ve got to show up, otherwise you can’t take the credit and get one of these fellas.”
Donen was married five times and had a famous affair with Elizabeth Taylor. In later years he was “happily unmarried” to the comedian, actor and director Elaine May, with whom he collaborated on theatrical projects.
In 2014, the Nickelodeon Theatre in Columbia staged a season of Donen’s films, entitled A Lotta Talent and a Little Luck. The organiser said: “Though so many people love his work, too few people know who he is, much less that he’s a native.”
Despite this, among film cognoscenti his place is secure. The British critic David Thomson, author of the New Biographical Dictionary of Film, called him “a central figure in the story of the MGM musical”.
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Olivia Munn Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Double Mastectomy Procedure | E! News
March 13, 2024
kUaEV1Kd3S0
Travis Kelce Shares Details From His Trip to Singapore With Taylor Swift | E! News
March 13, 2024
3YXi-Dgf4eg
Kate Middleton VIRAL Photo: Agency Addresses Photoshop Claims | E! News
March 13, 2024
S4VkO0TpkCY
Da'Vine Joy Randolph Plays 'Smash or Pass' With Iconic Moments From Her Career
March 13, 2024
vkPdJEF2BX4
Jean Smart Wears a Hotel Bathrobe to Present an Award to Hannah Einbinder l Power of Comedy SxSW
March 12, 2024
Bw7uVEYQev4
Lenny Kravitz Walk of Fame Ceremony
March 12, 2024
MlWq8BcnwhE
Dak Prescott Extortion Plot & Steph Curry for President? | TMZ Sports Full Ep - 3/12/24
March 13, 2024
jHFsrjs7OFY
A Japanese space rocket blew up after takeoff Tuesday, turning the sky into a fireball of smoke.
March 13, 2024
YkfJ3Qg8B7c
#KimKardashian and #BiancaCensori hung out at #KanyeWest's listening party Tuesday night!
March 13, 2024
EfwLLq6bx9k
‘Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond denies using Ozempic to lose 60 pounds
March 13, 2024
Omfjk1AlZ3A
Chrissy Teigen reveals her ‘boob lift scars’ in daring dress at Jay-Z & Beyoncé’s Oscars 2024 party
March 13, 2024
VxZ2qXAlpmU
Zoë Kravitz pokes fun at dad Lenny Kravitz's style during Hollywood Walk of Fame speech
March 13, 2024
j3-lcFu_1sQ
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
SC Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen
17
Mar
USA: Major League Soccer
Atlanta United - Orlando City
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
West Ham United - Aston Villa
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Rayo Vallecano - Real Betis
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Championship
Leeds - Millwall
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Las Palmas - Almeria
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Villarreal - Valencia
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Sevilla - Celta Vigo
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
09
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund
09
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Arsenal - Brentford
09
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Bologna - Inter Milan
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.