Jonathan Demme
Born	February 22, 1944 (1944-02-22) (age 63) Baldwin, Long Island, New York, USA
Spouse(s)	Joanne Howard Evelyn Purcell
Awards Academy Awards Best Director 1991 The Silence of the Lambs

Jonathan Demme (born February 22, 1944, in Baldwin, New York) is an Academy Award winning American film director, producer and writer.

Demme broke into feature film directing working for Roger Corman. His first mainstream feature Melvin and Howard caught the eye of Hollywood and he was signed to direct the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell vehicle Swing Shift. The compromised production saw Demme withdraw for a time from major feature films making a notable series of 'concert films' with Stop Making Sense and Swimming to Cambodia. He continues to alternate making feature films with documentaries and concert/performance films.

In 1991, Demme won the Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambsâ€"one of the few films to win all the major categories (best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor, and best actress). Demme directed an Oscar-winning turn from Tom Hanks in his next feature, Philadelphia.

One of his common directorial motifs is to allow characters to look directly into the camera.

Demme formed his production company, Clinica Estetico, with producers Edward Saxon and Peter Saraf. They were based out of New York for fifteen years.

Demme has three children and is a graduate of the University of Florida. He also was the uncle of director Ted Demme, who died in 2002.

It has been reported that he is currently working on a documentary featuring Jimmy Carter as Carter promotes his book Palestine:Peace not Apartheid.[1]. The film will premiere at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

Filmography

• Caged Heat (1974)
• Crazy Mama (1975)
• Fighting Mad (1976)
• Handle with Care (1977)
• Last Embrace (1979)
• Melvin and Howard (1980)
• Who Am I This Time? (1983)
• Swing Shift (1984)
• Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads concert film) (1984)
• The Perfect Kiss (New Order music video) (1985)
• Something Wild (1986)
• Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
• Haiti: Dreams of Democracy (1987)
• Married to the Mob (1988)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Cousin Bobby (1991)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Beloved (1998)
• Storefront Hitchcock (1998)
• The Truth About Charlie (2002)
• The Agronomist (2003)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
• Man from Plains (2007)
• Dancing With Shiva (2008)

References

External links

• Storefront Demme
• Jonathan Demme at the Internet Movie Database
• Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database Profile by Keith Uhlich
• Slant Magazine Film Review of Neil Young: Heart of Gold by Keith Uhlich
• Start Making Sense (Interview with Jonathan Demme from LA Weekly) by Michael Dare