Jonathan Demme | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Demme in 2015 | |
| Born | Robert Jonathan Demme February 22, 1944 Baldwin, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 2017 (aged 73) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | University of Florida |
| Occupations |
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| Works | Full list |
| Spouses | Evelyn Purcell
(m. 1970; div. 1980)Joanne Howard (m. 1987) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives |
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Robert Jonathan Demme (/ˈdɛmi/ DEM-ee;[1] February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an Academy Award and a Directors Guild of America Award winner, and received nominations for a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Independent Spirit Awards.
Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film Caged Heat, before becoming known for his casually humanist films[2] such as Melvin and Howard (1980), Swing Shift (1984), Something Wild (1986), and Married to the Mob (1988). His 1991 psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs, based on the novel of the same title, won five Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture.
His subsequent films earned similar acclaim, notably the HIV/AIDS-themed drama Philadelphia (1993), the supernatural Gothic horror Beloved (1998), the conspiracy thriller The Manchurian Candidate (2004), and the independent drama Rachel Getting Married (2008). Demme also directed numerous concert films such as Stop Making Sense (1984), Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006), and Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids (2016), and worked on several television series as both a producer and director.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Demmewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (April 26, 2017). "A musical soul: Jonathan Demme, 1944-2017". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Archived from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
Demme's laid back brand of optimistic humanism wasn't always a great fit for Hollywood projects, though he applied his talents to them so conscientiously and inventively that he briefly became an A-list director anyhow.