Stanley Donen, director of 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'Funny Face,' dies at 94

The director Stanley Donen, a giant of the Hollywood musical, who through classics such as "Singin' in the Rain"

and "Funny Face" helped give us some of the most uplifting sound and visuals in film history, has passed away. He was 94.

Donen was a frequent collaborator together with Gene Kelly but also worked with Cary Grant,

Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire, died Thursday in New York from heart failure His brothers Joshua Mark and Joshua Mark Donen confirmed Saturday.

The 1940s and 1950s were the most popular era for Hollywood musicals. No filmmaker had more influence on the story

Donen was one of the actors behind some of the most memorable films, such as Kelly dancing along with animatronic Jerry his mouse from "Anchors Aweigh," 

Astaire's spinning across the ceiling in a gravity-defying way as seen in "Royal Wedding,"

and the ultimate hit, Kelly ecstatically splashing about when he performed the song's title from "Singin' in the Rain."

The 2007 American Film Institute survey of the 100 best American films, which were ranked "Singin' in the Rain," 

talking pictures in the 1920s, and Kelly's famous dance performance in the rain, as No. 5.

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