Acclaimed film director, producer and screenwriter Jonathan Demme has sadly died aged 73.
According to his publicist, the multi-award winning auteur passed away in New York on Wednesday following complications from oesophageal cancer.
Born in 1944, Demme is best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, the 1991 psychological thriller that earned him an Academy Award. Demme also helmed the 1993 AIDS drama, Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks. Speaking of his passing, Hanks described Demme as “the grandest of men.”
Demme’s other filmmaking credits include Melvin and Howard, Married to the Mob, Swing Shift, Something Wild, The Manchurian Candidate, Rachel Getting Married and Ricki and the Flash.
Demme was also a keen documentarian, directing several Neil Young films as well as a more recent project with Justin Timberlake. As well as this, he also directed a few episodes of Saturday Night Live and The Killing.
Demme is survived by his wife Joanne and three children.
