Stanley Donen - Personal Life

Personal Life

Donen was married five times and had three children. All of his marriages ended in divorce. His first wife was dancer, choreographer and actress Jeanne Coyne. They married on April 14, 1948 and divorced in May 1951. Donen's second wife was actress Marion Marshall, who had been the girlfriend and protégé of Howard Hawks and later married actor Robert Wagner. Donen and Marshall had two sons together: Peter Donen, born in 1953, and Joshua Donen, born in 1955. These sons comprise the name of Cary Grant's character in the film Charade. Donen and Marshall were married from 1952 until 1959. They had a lengthy custody battle over their two sons after Marshall married Robert Wagner and Donen moved to England. Donen's third wife was Adelle, Countess Beatty. She had previously been the second wife of the 2nd Earl Beatty. They had one son: Mark Donen, born in 1962, and lived together in London. They were married in 1960 and separated in 1969 before divorcing in 1971. Donen's fourth wife was the American actress Yvette Mimieux. They were married from 1972 until 1985, but remained close friends after their divorce. Donen's fifth wife was Pamela Braden, who was thirty-six years younger than him. Donen proposed to her four days after having met her. They were married from 1990 until 1994.

In the early 1940s Donen dated actress Judy Holliday while still working on Broadway. He also dated Elizabeth Taylor for a year between his first and second marriages. Donen's current longtime companion is writer and director Elaine May.

Donen's eldest son Peter Donen was a successful visual effects artist who worked on such films as Superman III, Spaceballs, The Bourne Identity, and The Truth About Charlie. He also designed the title credits for Blame It on Rio. Peter Donen died of a heart attack in 2003 at the age of 50. Donen's second son Joshua Donen is a film producer who has worked on such films as The Quick and the Dead, Drag Me to Hell, and the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Donen's third son Mark worked as a production assistant on Blame It on Rio.

In 1959, Donen's father Mordecai Donen died at the age of 59 in Beaufort, South Carolina. His mother Helen Donen died in 1989 at the age of 84 in South Carolina. Donen delivered the eulogy at his mother's funeral.

With the deaths in the 2000s of Billy Wilder, Elia Kazan, Robert Wise, and Jules Dassin, Stanley Donen became the last surviving notable film director of Hollywood's Golden Age. He has never officially retired and occasionally makes appearances at film festivals and retrospectives of his work. He was the subject of the 2010 documentary Stanley Donen: You Just Do It.