Donen 's last film was the television movie '' Love Letters '' , which aired on ABC in April 1999 . The film starred Steven Weber and Laura Linney and was based on the play by A. R. Gurney . Weber plays a successful U.S. Senator who finds out that his long lost love ( Linney ) has recently died . The two had only corresponded through mail over the years , and Weber remembers Linney through his collection of old love letters . Donen had wanted to make a theatrical film version of the play , but was unable to secure financing from any major studio and instead took the project to ABC . In 2002 Donen directed Elaine May 's musical play '' Adult Entertainment '' starring Danny Aiello and Jeannie Berlin in Stamford , Connecticut . In 2004 he was awarded the Career Golden Lion at the 61st Venice International Film Festival
61st Venice International Film Festival
61st Venice International Film Festival
Stanley Donen