Jonathan Demme

31 films · 1974 to 2017

Born 22 February 1944, Baldwin, Long Island, New York, USA · Died 26 April 2017

Robert Jonathan Demme was an American filmmaker. His career of directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. In addition to being an Academy Award and a Directors Guild of America Award winner, he 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 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.

Biography adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.

Critical context from Senses of Cinema