Singin' In The Rain co-director Stanley Donen, who worked with Audrey Hepburn on Charade, Funny Face and Two For The Road, dies at age 94 By Heidi Parker For Dailymail.com Published: 16:26 GMT, 23 February 2019 | Updated: 16:28 GMT, 23 February 2019 Viewcomments Hollywood director and choreographer Stanley Donen has died at age 94. One of Donen's sons confirmed the news, according to the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips. 'A huge, often neglected talent,' Phillips tweeted Saturday morning. The icon was best known for his hit films Funny Face, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain, and Charade. Sad loss: Hollywood director and choreographer Stanley Donen has died at age 94. Seen in 2004 His biggest hit: He co-directed Singin' In The Rain with Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly in 1952 The director was presented an honorary Oscar in 1998 by Martin Scorsese 'in appreciation of a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit and visual innovation.' Donen never received an Academy Award nomination and never won a regulation Directors Guild of America trophy. The South Carolina was the architect of the great musicals of the Fifties and Sixties. He was behind Fred Astaire's dancing up the walls and across the ceiling in the 1951 film Royal Wedding. 'I saw Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio when I was 9 years old, and it changed my life,' he told Vanity Fair in March 2013. 'It just seemed wonderful, and my life wasn’t wonderful. The joy of dancing to music! And Fred was so amazing, and Ginger — oh, God! Ginger!' He attended the University of South Carolina but moved to New York in search of theater work. His first job was in 1940 as a dancer in the chorus of Pal Joey, starring Kelly. They then went on to work on Best Foot Forward. Next was Cover Girl (1944) and Living in a Big Way (1947). He then co-wrote with Kelly the story for Busby Berkeley’s Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), which starred Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Esther Williams. Donen and Astaire then collaborated in Royal Wedding. For the 1952 film Singin’ in the Rain, there was a lot of work put into the choreographer, which has been regarding as some of the best on film. 'He danced in puddles, which had to be in the exact spot, and the exact timing,' Donen told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in 2012. 'We had to dig the cement out and make it for him to splash at that point … so you have to rehearse it very much.' 'He was a dancer and knew that movement was everything: the beat of the image, the movement of the image, the rhythm of the image — he makes the camera dance,' his biographer, USC professor Drew Casper, said. In 1957 he worked with Audrey Hepburn in one of her biggest hits: Funny Face. The two would go on to made the 1963 film thriller Charade, which was full of color, witty repartee and clever scenes. And then they collaborated on the 1967 film Two For The Road, using innovative editing techniques. The drama went back and forth in time to skillfully show how a marriage fell apart. Albert Finney also starred as the lost and confused husband. His 1984 film Blame It On Rio made a star of Demi Moore. His last big project was the 1999 TV Movie Love Letters with Laura Linney and Steven Weber. Donan was married to Jeanne Coyne from 1948-51, to actress Marion Marshall from 1952-59; to English countess Adelle Beatty from 1960-71; and to actress Yvette Mimieux from 1972-85. His most recent partner was writer-director Elaine May. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility