Jonathan Demme was a $40 million net-worth American filmmaker, writer, and director. Jonathan Demme debuted in the film industry with “The Hot Box” and “Angels Hard as They Come” in the early 1970s. Before getting Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn for a production of “Swing Shift,” he directed several pictures, including “Crazy Mama” and “Melvin and Howard.” The film was a disappointment, and Demme took a hiatus from Hollywood until he returned with “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1991. He won an Oscar for Best Director for the film and was nominated for two BAFTAs and a Golden Globe.
How did Jonathan Demme die?
Jonathan Demme died on April 26, 2017, at the age of 73, at his home in Manhattan, of complications from esophageal cancer and heart illness.
“I am heart-broken to lose a friend, a mentor, a guy so singular and dynamic you’d have to design a hurricane to contain him. Jonathan was as quirky as his comedies and as deep as his dramas. He was pure energy, the unstoppable cheerleader for anyone creative. Just as passionate about music as he was about art, he was and will always be a champion of the soul. JD, most beloved, something wild, brother of love, director of the lambs. Love that guy. Love him so much.”
― Jodie Foster’s remark in the aftermath of Demme’s death.
Brady Corbet dedicated his 2018 film Vox Lux to Demme’s memory, as did Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 film Suspiria and Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film Phantom Thread, starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Demme is credited in Spike Lee’s 2020 concert film American Utopia, which stars David Byrne. Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine’s album A Beginner’s Mind is dedicated to Demme, with one of its tracks, “Cimmerian Shade,” acknowledging him and referencing The Silence of the Lambs inside its lyrics.
Meanwhile, early in his career, Demme worked for exploitation film director Roger Corman, co-writing and producing “Angels Hard as They Come” in 1971. The next year, he worked on “The Hot Box.” He then directed three pictures for Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. “Caged Heat” debuted in 1974, followed by “Crazy Mama” in 1975 and “Fighting Mad” in 1976. Demme then directed the comedy film “Handle with Care” for Paramount Pictures, which earned positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office.
He directed the 1980 film “Melvin and Howard.” The picture received critical acclaim and won two Academy Awards. Because of the film’s success, Demme was hired to make “Swing Shift,” a film starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. The picture was intended to be a prestige production for Warner Bros. as well as a vehicle for Demme to break into mainstream movies. However, the project was beset with complications due to disagreements between Demme and Hawn. When the picture was finished in 1984, Demme abandoned it, and it did not fare well with reviewers or audiences.
Demme then stepped away from Hollywood to direct the Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense.” The documentary received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Documentary. He then worked on the romantic action comedy “Something Wild,” the stage adaptation of “Swimming to Cambodia,” and the comedy “Married to the Mob.” In 1987, he founded his own production company, Clinica Estetico, alongside producers Edward Saxon and Peter Saraf. For the next fifteen years, the corporation was situated in New York City.
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
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Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
