Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Stanley Donen

Director/choreographer

Born - 13 April 1924, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Died - 23 February 2019

Black-haired, dapper dance director who, often co-directing with long-time associate Gene Kelly (strangely, they both married the same woman), became associated with some of the greatest musicals of the MGM era. Later, he branched out on his own with such hits as Charade. He was with MGM as a teenager after beginnings as a tap dancer: at 19 he was assistant choreographer on the musical Best Foot Forward. He and Kelly co-choreographed Cover Girl (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Everybody's Cheering/Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), before co-directing On the Town (1949) and Singin' in the Rain (1951). On his own, Donen directed Wedding Bells/Royal Wedding (1951), The Light Fantastic (1952), Give a Girl a Break (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), It's Always Fair Weather (1955), Funny Face (1956), The Pajama Game (1957), Damn Yankees/What Lola Wants (1958) and more. Musicals fell from fashion as the 1960s approached, but for a while Donen prospered: Charade (1963), Arabesque (1965) and Bedazzled (1967). Later films were less successful, but he continued with Staircase (1969), The Little Prince (1973), Lucky Lady (1975), Movie Movie (1978), Saturn 3 (1980) and Blame It On Rio (1984), his last. Five times married, including 12 years to actress Yvette Mimieux, his fourth wife, he was partnered in his last two decades by comedienne/writer/director Elaine May.