Eclectic fi lmmaker was Oscar winner
JONATHAN DEMME /
NEW YORK — Jonathan Demme, the ever-enthusiastic filmmaker behind the Oscar winners “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” and the director of one of the most seminal concert films ever made, the Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense,” has died. He was 73.
Demme’s publicist, Annalee Paulo, said Demme died Wednesday morning in his New York apartment, surrounded by his wife, Joanna, and three children. Demme died from complications of esophageal cancer, Paulo said.
Demme started out making B-movies (“Handle With Care” in 1978) for producer Roger Corman but quickly graduated to Hollywood features while retaining his quirky point of view — “Melvin and Howard,” “Something Wild” and “Married to the Mob.”
“The Silence of the Lambs,” the 1991 thriller starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster as an FBI analyst, earned him a directing Oscar, as well as best picture. He followed that up with “Philadelphia” (1993), with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, the first major Hollywood film to confront the AIDS crisis. It remains a landmark film in the portrayal of gay life and injustice.
“Jonathan taught us how big a heart a person can have, and how it will guide how we live and what we do for a living,” Hanks said.
Demme loved the work of Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and adapted her novel “Beloved,” starring Oprah Winfrey, into a film. He also loved music and directed several ground-breaking music documentaries, including “Stop Making Sense” and films with Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and the Pretenders.
Demme last year released his latest concert film, “Justin Timberlake and the Tennessee Kids,” on Netflix. Timberlake, a passionate fan of “Stop Making Sense,” sought out Demme to direct it.
Other films included “Crazy Mama,” “Ricki and the Flash,” “Rachel Getting Married,” “Swimming to Cambodia,” “Storefront Hitchcock” and the remake of “The Manchurian Candidate.”
Demme directed two documentaries about Haiti, chronicled a book tour by President Jimmy Carter and directed a music video for Artists United Against Apartheid.