JONATHAN DEMME
February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017 (age 73)
Cause of Death: Complications from esophageal cancer and heart disease
To me, director Jonathan Demme will always be the Academy Award winning director of The Silence Of The Lambs, his masterpiece. Not only did it bring the Thomas Harris novel of the same title to life, it brought one of the most thrilling horror films to the general audiences and to the Academy’s attention, which was unheard of, even at that time. Although I’ve missed most of his work, I did happen to catch Rachel Getting Married, starring Anne Hathaway, and have always meant to catch Philadelphia, probably his second biggest known work, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. He also worked again with Denzel in the remake of The Manchurian Candidate, another film I had always meant to see. He was also big into directing musician biopics and documentaries. His final narrative feature film was one that I worked on the advertising for, starring Meryl Streep, titled Ricki And The Flash, which unfortunately was not very good. But The Silence Of The Lambs will always be his legacy.
JONATHAN DEMME’S DIRECTORIAL FILMOGRAPHY
| 1974 | Caged Heat | (also Writer) |
| 1975 | Crazy Mama | |
| 1976 | Fighting Mad | (also Writer) |
| 1977 | Handle With Care (aka Citizen’s Band) |
|
| 1979 | Last Embrace | (also Actor) |
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard | |
| 1984 | Swing Shift | |
| 1986 | Something Wild |
(also Producer) |
| 1987 | Swimming to Cambodia |
|
| 1988 | Married to the Mob |
|
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs |
*ACADEMY AWARD WINNER* |
| 1993 | Philadelphia |
(also Producer) |
| 1998 | Beloved |
|
| 2002 | The Truth About Charlie |
(also Writer / Producer) |
| 2004 | The Manchurian Candidate |
(also Producer) |
| 2008 | Rachel Getting Married |
(also Producer) |
| 2013 | A Master Builder | |
| 2015 | Ricki and the Flash |
JONATHAN DEMME’S DOCUMENTARIES
| 1984 | Stop Making Sense | (also Writer) |
| 1987 | Haiti: Dreams of Democracy | (also Writer / Producer) |
| 1992 | Cousin Bobby | |
| 1994 | The Complex Sessions | |
| 1998 | Storefront Hitchcock | |
| 2003 | The Agronomist | (also Writer / Producer / Cinematographer) |
| 2006 | Neil Young: Heart of Gold |
|
| 2007 | Man from Plains |
(also Producer) |
| 2007 | Right to Return: New Home Movies From the Lower 9th Ward |
|
| 2009 | Neil Young Trunk Show |
|
| 2011 | I’m Carolyn Parker |
(also Producer / Cinematographer) |
| 2012 | Neil Young Journeys |
(also Producer) |
| 2012 | Enzo Avitabile Music Life |
(also Producer) |
| 2015 | What’s Motivating Hayes |
SHORT |
| 2016 | Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids |
JONATHAN DEMME’S TELEVISION WORK
| 1978 | Columbo | Director | Episode: “Murder Under Glass” |
| 1980-86 | Saturday Night Live | Director / Writer | 3 episodes |
| 1982 | American Playhouse | Director | Episode: “Who Am I This Time?” |
| 1987 | Trying Times | Director | Episode: “A Family Tree” |
| 1997 | Subway Stories | Director | Segment: “”Subway Car from Hell” |
| 2011 | Enlightened | Director | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | A Gifted Man | Director / Producer | Episode: “Pilot” |
| 2013-2014 | The Killing | Director | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Shots Fired | Director | Episode: “Hour Six: The Fire This Time” |
