OSCAR-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme, best known for 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Philadelphia' (1993) and 'Something Wild' (1986), died at the age of 73
A still from Silence of the Lambs
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OSCAR-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme, best known for 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Philadelphia' (1993) and 'Something Wild' (1986), died at the age of 73. His death was caused by cancer complications, his publicist told Variety. He is survived by his artist-wife Joanne Howard, and their three children.
Jonathan Demme
Demme maintained a low-key life, but his career was marked by a remarkably versatile output that included acclaimed narratives and documentaries dating back to the early '70s. He made his debut with the 1971 biker film Angels Hard as They Come, but his career reached another plane of critical and commercial success with a string of '80s dramas, including Melvin and Howard, Swing Shift, and Something Wild, which gave Melanie Griffith one of her early successful roles.
The Silence of the Lambs, the horror-thriller adapted from Thomas Harris' novel, was the high point of his career as a mainstream film-maker: the film won five Oscars, including best director for Demme, and made its central character, Hannibal Lecter, a household name. Philadelphia, which starred Tom Hanks in an Oscar-winning performance, brought Aids and gay characters into the mainstream. At the same time, he remained an active documentarian, creating the definitive Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense, in addition to three films with Neil Young.
More recently, Demme directed the Meryl Streep comedy Ricki and the Flash in 2015 and the concert documentary Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids in 2016.
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