Director Jonathan Demme, who won an Oscar for directing the 1991 Best Picture winnerThe Silence of the Lambs, haspassed awayearlier this morning at the age of 74. According to a source close to the family, the filmmaker passed from esophageal cancer and complications from heart disease. The filmmaker had been treated for esophageal cancer in 2010, and while he did recover, the cancer came back in 2015, and sources said his condition had deteriorated in recent weeks. We have assembled a number of tweets below from filmmakers and actors paying their respects to this iconic director.
IndieWirefirst broke the news this morning, as tributes have started to flood in from filmmakers such as Edgar Wright, James Wan and actors such as Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis and many more. Jonathan Demme was born June 07, 2025 in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York to Dorothy Louise (Rogers) and Robert Eugene Demme, a public relations executive. He graduated from South Miami High School and the University of Flordia before getting his start in the entertainment business by working with legendary filmmaker Roger Corman. Thelate directormade his debut by writing and producing the 1971 filmAngels as Hard as They Come, which starred Scott Glenn, Gary Busey and Janet Wood, and the 1972 filmThe Hot Box, before directing three films for Roger Corman’s New World Studios,Caged Heat(1974),Crazy Mama(1975) andFighting Mad(1976) before striking out on his own with 1977’sHandle With Care.
The director’s next film wasn’t a breakout hit at the box office, 1980’sMelvin and Howard, starring Jason Robards and Mary Steenburgen, was a critical hit that lead to Warner Bros.‘Swing Shift, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, which was intended to be both a prestige picture for the studio as well as the director’s first commercial breakout hit. It failed to make a dent at the box office and was panned by critics, which lead to thebeloved filmmakerto take his career in another direction, by directing concert films, which he was ultimately as well-known for as his narrative work. In 1984, he directed the concert filmTalking Heads: Once in a Lifetimeand the documentaryStop Making Sense, which lead to more concert films such asUB40 and Chrissie Hynde: I Got You Babe,New Order: The Perfect KissandArtists United Against Apartheid: Sun City, all released in 1985, a year where he also directed an episode ofSaturday Night Live.
The filmmaker returned to Hollywood just a year later with the 1986 classicSomething Wild, starring Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith, which he followed up withSwimming To Cambodia,Married to the MobandFamous All Over Town, along with the TV documentaryHaiti Dreams of Democracy, before hisfilmmaking careerwas shot into the stratosphere with the 1991 hitSilence of the Lambs. It is still the last film to win all of the “Big 5” Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster) and Best Screenplay (Ted Tally). He followed that up with Best Picture nomineePhiladelphiain 1993, followed by a number of short films before returning to the big screen five years later withBelovedin 1998.
His later films ran the gamut between genre andnarrative stylewith a diversity that has come to define his iconic career. He directedThe Truth About Charliein 2002, starring, Thandie Newton and Mark Wahlberg, the 2003 documentaryThe Agronomist, the 2004 remakeThe Manchurian Candidate, the 2006 documentaryNeil Young: Heart of Gold, the 2007 TV mini-series documentaryRight to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward, the 2007 documentaryJimmy Carter Man from Plains, the 2008 dramaRachel Getting Married, which landedAnne Hathawayan Oscar nomination. His final films wereThe Master Builderin 2013 andRicki and the Flashin 2015, and he also directed episodes ofThe Killing, the 2016 documentaryJustin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kidsand most recently, an episode ofShots Firedthis year. The late filmmaker is survived by his wifeJoanne Howardand their three children. Take a look at the tributes that have been pouring in since news ofJonathan Demme’s death surfaced.
