Jonathan Demme

Jonathan Demme Headshot

Director • Producer • Writer

Birth Date: February 22, 1944

Death Date: April 26, 2017

Birth Place: Baldwin, Long Island, New York

An incredibly energetic, optimistic and versatile director of character-driven films, Jonathan Demme emerged from the crucible of B-moviemaking at Roger Corman's New World Pictures in the early 1970s to become one of Hollywood's most critically admired filmmakers. Though he cut his teeth on a few cheapie action flicks like "Caged Heat" (1974) and "Crazy Mama" (1975), Demme tapped into the influence of foreign filmmakers like Francois Truffaut to use sly humor and an oddball style to explore human nature in fiercely intimate films like "Citizen's Band" (1977), "Melvin and Howard" (1980) and the troubled "Swing Shift" (1984). Though mainly interested in fictional storytelling, Demme also carved out a career in non-fiction filmmaking, including the critically acclaimed "Stop Making Sense" (1984), a rock documentary featuring Talking Heads that was widely considered to be one of the best examples of the genre. But Demme reserved his finest work for his most mainstream fare, particularly "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), which became one of only three films to win Academy Awards in all five major Oscar categories and cemented his reputation as being one of the most versatile and accomplished filmmakers of his day. Following the equally high profile AIDS story "Philadelphia" (1993) and Oprah Winfrey-starring Toni Morrison adaptation "Beloved" (1998), Demme returned to his quirkier roots with a series of documentaries focusing on rocker Neil Young, a remake of the conspiracy thriller "The Manchurian Candidate" (2008) and the small-scale indie "Rachel Getting Married" (2008). When Jonathan Demme died of complications from esophageal cancer on April 26, 2017, peers and fans across the globe mourned the loss of one of the most eclectic and unique filmmakers of his generation.

Born on Feb. 22, 1944 in Baldwin, NY, Demme was raised by his father, Robert, a public relations executive for the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, FL, and his mother, Carol, an actress. After his parents moved to Florida, Demme began carving out a career as a veterinarian by working at a local vet cleaning cages and caring for the animals. But when he was unable to master the most basic concepts of chemistry at the University of Florida, Demme gave up his dream of becoming a veterinarian and began writing film reviews for the college's newspaper, The Alligator. After writing a rave review of "Zulu" (1964), his father arranged an introduction to the film's producer Joseph E Levine, who was charmed by Demme's enthusiastic thumbs up and immediately hired him to write press releases. Demme moved to New York, where he spent the next two years as a movie publicist for United Artists and Embassy Pictures. It was during this time that he met and befriended French director François Truffaut, who was in New York promoting "The Bride Wore Black" (1968). Truffaut recognized the young publicist's affection for film and planted the directing seed into Demme's mind.

In 1968, Demme left the publicist business and moved to London, where he continued writing reviews, only this time for the music business, which ironically helped to open the door on his feature film career. Hired by producers Paul Maslansky and Irwin Allen to create the music for "Eyewitness/Sudden Terror" (1970), Demme worked with British rock groups Van Der Graaf Generator and Kaleidoscope as the score's music coordinator. It was during this time that he came to the attention of low-budget impresario Roger Corman. At the producer's invitation, Demme relocated to Los Angeles to write screenplays for the recently-formed New World Pictures, completing his first script, "Angels Hard as They Come" (1971), with friend Joe Viola. Demme graduated to second unit director on "The Hot Box" (1972) before making his full-fledged directorial debut with the tongue-in-cheek "Caged Heat" (1974), a fairly typical women's prison flick in which the director inserted a socially-conscious secondary plot about the medical exploitation of prisoners. Demme helmed two more pictures for Corman, "Crazy Mama" (1975), a rich crime comedy about a wild woman (Cloris Leachman) on an absurdist crime spree from California to Arkansas, and "Fighting Mad" (1976), starring Peter Fonda as a man driven to violence by a ruthless landowner who wants to take over his farm. After "Fighting Mad," Demme left the comfortable confines of New World Pictures to make movies on his own. He beat out several directors to helm "Citizen's Band" (1977), an adventurous comedy which wavered between glorifying, lampooning and seriously questioning the implications of the CB radio craze of the era. Retitled "Handle with Care," the movie was a series of mundane, whimsical and disturbing vignettes that featured a gang of loony CB operators which bombed at the box office despite good reviews, leaving Demme scrounging for work. After making "Last Embrace" (1979), an accomplished thriller in the Hitchcockian mold, Demme continued his exploration of the American condition in "Melvin and Howard" (1980), a laidback but revealing account of an unlikely encounter between a working-class everyman, Melvin Dummar (Paul LeMat), and eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes (Jason Robards), whom Dummar claimed named him sole heir to his fortune. Named Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics, this satiric, tolerant look at the American class structure also won Demme the New York Film Critics' Best Director award, as well as Oscars for co-star Mary Steenburgen and writer Bo Goldman. But once again, Demme failed to ignite the box office.

For his next film, "Swing Shift" (1984), Demme envisioned a probing look at women factory workers during World War II (his grandmother had worked on the assembly line making fighter planes.) But the film's executive producer and female lead, Goldie Hawn, saw a star vehicle instead. Hating the director's cut emphasizing female camaraderie and endurance in the face of domineering male employers, Hawn presented the director with 28 pages of new material, which he half-heartedly shot. As soon as the picture had been through two previews in its original form, Hawn decided to re-cut the film on her own, playing up the script's romantic angle. Demme and his editor Craig McKay quit the project rather than insert the new scenes. Though its critical and commercial failure vindicated him in a way, the pain of the experience lingered for well over a year. New Yorker critic Pauline Kael - who originally gave "Swing Shift" a negative review - later said, "I saw his cut on videotape, and thought it was wonderful." During the early stages of editing "Swing Shift," Demme had attended a Talking Heads concert in Los Angeles and had been blown away by their performance. He sold the band's leader David Byrne on his vision of honoring the excitement of the live performance by avoiding tricky shots, flashy editing techniques, and anything that would constitute a digression from the performance itself, like cutaways to the audience. Compiled from three concerts in December 1983, "Stop Making Sense" (1984) was a joyously energetic, yet downtown-cool showcase which helped propel Talking Heads to mainstream stardom. Demme also directed several rock videos for other bands, including an acclaimed clip for New Order's "Perfect Kiss" that consisted primarily of extreme close-ups of the band members' faces and hands as they performed the song. Demme's eclectic musical taste also informed the lively "Something Wild" (1986), a screwball comedy that takes a surprising turn into thriller territory. "Something Wild" was Demme's contribution to the disaffected yuppie genre, which had already yielded Albert Brooks' "Lost in America" (1985) and John Landis' "Into the Night" (1985), in which Demme had appeared in a cameo role. The film's hip urban sensibility seemed a change for Demme, as did the return to violence largely unseen since his early days with Corman. But the film was actually consistent with the director's examination of self-determination that had begun with the women prisoners of "Caged Heat" and continued with the munitions workers of "Swing Shift." His concern with the heroic struggle of the central female character who fights to establish herself against unyielding patriarchal attitudes helped contribute to his reputation as a feminist filmmaker. Demme showed his mettle with another artful and subtle performance film, "Swimming to Cambodia" (1987), featuring celebrated monologist Spalding Gray. He next spoofed the Mafia in "Married to the Mob" (1988), another dark comedy more garishly colored and cheerful than "Something Wild." Dean Stockwell's comic turn as Mafioso Tony 'The Tiger' Russo and the right-on performance of Michelle Pfeiffer in the lead role were standouts among a formidable cast boasting Matthew Modine, Mercedes Ruehl, Alec Baldwin and frequent Demme player Charles Napier. Demme's career finally reached full fruition both critically and commercially with "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), adapted from the novel by Thomas Harris. Despite the grisly nature of the story, Demme resisted the possibilities for exploitation and instead fashioned a compelling and impressively sensitive psychological drama with a courageous, independent female protagonist. He also elicited landmark performances from both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. Following in the footsteps of "It Happened One Night" (1934) and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), "Silence of the Lambs" went on to win the five top Academy Awards - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay - an immense accomplishment for what was essentially a big-budget horror film. Often associated with progressive causes, Demme lent his talents to projects that reflected his political concerns such as "Haiti Dreams of Democracy" (1988), which he co-wrote, co-produced, and co-directed. He also helmed and appeared in "Cousin Bobby" (1992), a documentary about his relative, the Reverend Robert Castle, a radical, Harlem-based clergyman. Though many viewed the director's decision to film "Philadelphia" (1993) as a mea culpa in response to the charges of homophobia in "The Silence of the Lambs," Demme had actually been working on the project with screenwriter Ron Nyswaner as early as 1988. Nonetheless, the moving courtroom drama was a landmark in mainstream Hollywood history. "Philadelphia" provided an attention-getting and Oscar-winning role for Tom Hanks as the afflicted gay lawyer who loses his job when he becomes symptomatic from AIDS. Despite some acclaim, the film was criticized for lacking the strong character development and sense of the unexpected that characterized Demme's best work.

In the 1990s, Demme, like his mentor Corman, increasingly concentrated on producing, beginning with George Armitage's "Miami Blues" (1990). He upped his output considerably after 1993, producing 10 pictures in five years. He returned to the director's chair for the film version of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Beloved" (1998), reinforcing the novel's best insights with a startling breadth of vision. Demme had been looking for a project that addressed race relations for a long time and "Beloved" fit that bill with its story about the disfiguring effects of slavery and its aftermath. As a reflection of his lifelong passion for rock 'n' roll, he also helmed "Storefront Hitchcock" (1998), a concert film featuring legendary cult figure Robyn Hitchcock. After a lengthy hiatus away from the camera, Demme returned to helm "The Truth About Charlie" (2002), a remake of one of his favorite films, "Charade" (1963), starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn and directed by the legendary Stanley Donen. Essentially casting the central locale of Paris as a third lead character, Demme reunited with some longtime collaborators such as Tak Fujimoto and paid tribute to the influences of the French New Wave that long guided his sensibility. The film was poorly received by both critics and audiences, which failed to stop Demme from choosing another remake of a classic film, 1962 conspiracy thriller "The Manchurian Candidate." Demme's 2004 spin featured a carefully tweaked screenplay with some new surprises and dimensions, and a masterful cast: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber and Kimberly Elise. Returning to documentary films, Demme directed "The Agronomist" (2002), a profile of Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique, who spent his lifetime campaigning to reform the oppressed nation until his assassination in 2000. Demme next delivered the rock documentary, "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" (2005), which depicted the famed singer-songwriter during two special performances at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium commemorating the release of his acclaimed 2005 album, Prairie Wind. For his third consecutive documentary, Demme turned to politics with "Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains" (2007), an experimental look at the former president during his book tour promoting Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, which featured speeches on how to achieve peace in the Middle East. After four years, Demme went back to feature filmmaking with "Rachel Getting Married" (2008), a dramatic comedy about the troubled black sheep of a family (Anne Hathaway) returning home for her sister's wedding, which touches off long-simmering tensions. Demme earned Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Director and Best Feature. Demme next united with Young for two more documentaries, the concert film "Neil Young Trunk Show" (2009) and the cinema-vérité "Neil Young Journeys" (2011). Moving back to television for the first time in decades, Demme directed two episodes each of the acclaimed comedy-drama "Enlightened" (HBO 2011-13) and crime drama "The Killing" (AMC/Netflix 2011-14) and an hour-long drama, "Line of Sight" (AMC 2014). The concert film "Kenny Chesney: Unstaged" (2012) continued his music-related work. In 2013, Demme filmed Wallace Shawn's adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen play "A Master Builder." Demme returned to the big screen with "Ricki and the Flash" (2015), a comedy-drama about a struggling rocker (Meryl Streep) who reconnects with the suburban family she had abandoned at the outset of her career. It was followed by another concert film, "Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids" (2016), showcasing the pop-R&B singer in Las Vegas during the final show of his 2014 tour. Returning to television, Demme shot an episode of Gina Prince-Bythewood's 10-part procedural drama "Shots Fired" (Fox 2017). Jonathan Demme died of complications from esophageal cancer on April 26, 2017.

Credits

Justin Timberlake & The Tennessee Kids

Director
Show
2016

Ricki and the Flash with Bonus Featurette

Director
Show
2015

Ricki and the FlashStream

Director
Movie
2015
65%

Deep Time

Executive Producer
Movie
2015

What's Motivating Hayes

Director
Movie
2015

The Center

Executive Producer
Movie
2015

I Thought I Told You to Shut Up!!

Narrator
Movie
2015

Song One

Producer
Movie
2014

Enzo Avitabile Music Life

Director
Movie
2013

Enzo Avitabile Music Life

Producer
Movie
2013

A Master Builder

Director
Movie
2013

A Gifted ManStream

Director
Series
2011
66%

A Gifted ManStream

Executive Producer
Series
2011
66%

On Story

Guest
Show
2011

The KillingStream

Director
Series
2011
68%

I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful

Cinematography
Movie
2011

I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful

Director
Movie
2011

I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful

Producer
Movie
2011

Neil Young Journeys

Director
Movie
2011

Neil Young Journeys

Producer
Movie
2011

Bruce Springsteen: Streets of Philadelphia

Director
Show
2010

Crude Independence

Executive Producer
Movie
2009

Neil Young Trunk Show

Director
Movie
2009

Neil Young Trunk Show

Original Music
Movie
2009

Neil Young Trunk Show

Producer
Movie
2009

Studio Spotlight

Actor
Show
2008

Rachel Getting MarriedStream

Director
Movie
2008
84%

Rachel Getting MarriedStream

Producer
Movie
2008
84%

Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains

Director
Movie
2007

Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains

Producer
Movie
2007

Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains

Writer
Movie
2007

Neil Young: Heart of GoldStream

Director
Movie
2006
90%

Neil Young: Heart of GoldStream

Producer
Movie
2006
90%

Tavis Smiley

Guest
Talk
2004

The Manchurian CandidateStream

Director
Movie
2004
80%

The Manchurian CandidateStream

Executive Producer
Movie
2004
80%

The Agronomist

Cinematography
Movie
2003

The Agronomist

Director
Movie
2003

The Agronomist

Producer
Movie
2003

The Truth About Charlie

Director
Movie
2002

The Truth About Charlie

Producer
Movie
2002

The Truth About Charlie

Screenwriter
Movie
2002

AdaptationStream

Producer
Movie
2002

The Uttmost

Producer
Movie
1998

Shadrach

Executive Producer
Movie
1998

Storefront Hitchcock

Director
Movie
1998

Beloved

Director
Movie
1998

Beloved

Producer
Movie
1998

OzStream

Guest Star
Commercial Director
Series
1997
93%

Subway Stories

Director
Movie
1997

Subway Stories

Executive Producer
Movie
1997

That Thing You Do!Stream

Producer
Movie
1996
94%

Mandela

Producer
Movie
1996

Devil in a Blue DressStream

Executive Producer
Movie
1995
92%

One Foot on a Banana Peel, the Other Foot in the Grave: Secrets From the Dolly Madison Room

Producer
Movie
1994

PhiladelphiaStream

Director
Movie
1993
81%

PhiladelphiaStream

Producer
Movie
1993
81%

Cousin Bobby

Director
Movie
1992

Cousin Bobby

Self
Movie
1992

The Silence of the LambsStream

Director
Movie
1991
95%

Miami BluesStream

Producer
Movie
1990
85%

Married to the MobStream

Director
Movie
1988
88%

Haiti Dreams of Democracy

Director
Movie
1988

Haiti Dreams of Democracy

Producer
Movie
1988

Haiti Dreams of Democracy

Screenwriter
Movie
1988

Swimming to Cambodia

Director
Movie
1987

Something WildStream

Director
Movie
1986
91%

Something WildStream

Producer
Movie
1986
91%

Into the Night

Actor
Federal Agent
Movie
1985

Stop Making Sense

Director
Movie
1984
100%

Stop Making Sense

Writer
Movie
1984
100%

Swing ShiftStream

Director
Movie
1984
87%

Who Am I This Time?

Director
Show
1982

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

Writer
Movie
1982

Melvin and Howard

Director
Movie
1980
92%

Last Embrace

Director
Movie
1979

Colombo: Vino d'annata

Director
Movie
1978

Citizens Band

Director
Movie
1977

Por Mi Derecho

Director
Movie
1976

Fighting Mad

Director
Movie
1976

Fighting Mad

Screenwriter
Movie
1976

Crazy MamaStream

Director
Movie
1975
92%

Caged Heat

Director
Movie
1974

Women in Chains

Writer (Story)
Movie
1972

The Hot Box

Producer
Movie
1972

The Hot Box

Writer
Movie
1972

ColumboStream

Director
Series
1971

Angels, Hard as They Come

Producer
Movie
1970

Angels, Hard as They Come

Writer
Movie
1970