Jonathan Demme Biography

Robert Jonathan Demme (born February 22, 1944) is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop Making Sense and a trilogy of Neil Young documentary/concert movies.

Career

Demme broke into feature film working for exploitation film producer Roger Corman from 1971 to 1976, co-writing and producing Angels Hard as They Come and The Hot Box. He then moved on to directing, with three films (Caged Heat, Crazy Mama, Fighting Mad) for Corman's studio New World Pictures. After Fighting Mad, Demme directed the comedy film Handle with Care for Paramount Pictures in 1977. The film was well-reviewed by critics, but received little promotion, and performed poorly at the box office.

Demme's next film, 1980's Melvin and Howard, did not get a wide release, but received a groundswell of critical acclaim, and led to the signing of Demme to direct the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell star vehicle Swing Shift. Intended as a prestige picture for Warner Bros. as well as a major commercial vehicle for Demme, it instead became a troubled production due to the conflicting visions of Demme and star Hawn. Demme ended up renouncing the finished product, and when the film was released in May 1984, it was generally panned by critics and neglected by moviegoers. After Swing Shift, Demme stepped back from Hollywood to make the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense; the eclectic screwball action-romantic comedy Something Wild; a film-version of the stage production Swimming to Cambodia, by monologist Spaulding Gray; and the New York Mafia-by-way-of Downtown comedy Married to the Mob.

In 1991, Demme won the Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambs"?one of only three films to win all the major categories (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress). Demme followed that up with Philadelphia, which garnered star Tom Hanks a Best Actor Oscar.

Since then, Demme's films have included an adaptation of Toni Morrison's Beloved, and remakes of two popular films: The Truth About Charlie, based on Charade that starred Mark Wahlberg in the Cary Grant role; and The Manchurian Candidate, with Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep.

In 2007, Demme's film Man from Plains, a documentary about former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's book tour in promotion of his book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, premiered at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

In 2008, the art-house hit Rachel Getting Married was released, which many critics compared to Demme's films of the late 1970s and 1980s. It was included in many 2008 "best of" lists, and received numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress by lead Anne Hathaway. In 2010, Demme made his first foray into theater, directing Family Week, a play by Beth Henley. The play was produced by MCC Theater and co-starred Rosemarie DeWitt and Sarah Jones.

He has signed on to direct, produce, and write an adaptation of Stephen King's sci-fi novel 11/22/63 that centers around an attempt to go back in time and stop the Kennedy Assassination.

Demme has directed music videos for artists such as Suburban Lawns, New Order, KRS-One's H.E.A.L. project and Bruce Springsteen. He also produced a compilation of Haitian music called Konbit: Burning Rhythms of Haiti that was released in 1989. (Lou Reed selected Konbit... as one of his 'picks of 1989'. )

Demme is on the Board of Directors at Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY. In addition to his role on the board, he curates and hosts a monthly series called "Rarely Seen Cinema".

Clinica Estetico

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

Personal life

Demme was born in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York in 1944, and graduated from Southwest Miami High School and the University of Florida.

He is currently a member of the steering committee of the Friends of the Apollo Theater in Oberlin, Ohio, along with Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. In 2013, he returned to Oberlin, as part of an alumni reunion during the class of 2013 graduation ceremony, and received the award for Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts. Demme has three children by two marriages: Ramona, Brooklyn and Josephine. He also was the uncle of film director Ted Demme, who died in 2002.

During the 1980s, Demme had a brief romantic relationship with rock singer Belinda Carlisle, who appeared in his movie Swing Shift.

Works

Feature films

• Caged Heat (1974)
• Crazy Mama (1975)
• Fighting Mad (1976)
• Handle with Care (a.k.a. Citizen's Band) (1977)
• Last Embrace (1979)
• Melvin and Howard (1980)
• Swing Shift (1984)
• Something Wild (1986)
• Married to the Mob (1988)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Beloved (1998)
• The Truth About Charlie (2002)
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• Rachel Getting Married (2008)
• Fear of Falling (2013)

Documentaries

• Stop Making Sense (1984)
• Swimming to Cambodia (1987)
• Haiti: Dreams of Democracy (1987)
• Cousin Bobby (1992)
• The Complex Sessions (1994)
• Storefront Hitchcock (1998)
• The Agronomist (2003)
• Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
• Man from Plains (2007)
• New Home Movies From the Lower 9th Ward (2007)
• Neil Young Trunk Show (2009)
• I'm Carolyn Parker (2011)
• Neil Young Journeys (2012)
• Enzo Avitabile Music Life (2012)

Television work

• Columbo: Murder Under Glass (1978)
• Who Am I This Time? (1983)
• Trying Times (1987)
• Enlightened (2011)
• The Killing (2013)

Other work

• Angels Hard as They Come (1971) - Writer/Producer Only
• The Hot Box (1972) - Writer/Producer Only
• The Perfect Kiss (1985) - Music video for New Order, Director.
• Murder Incorporated (1995) - Music video for Bruce Springsteen, Director.

Awards and nominations

• Academy Award
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Won)
• Golden Globe
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Nomination)
• BAFTA Award
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Nomination - Best Film)
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Nomination - Best Director)
• Saturn Award
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Nomination)
• Berlinale
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Nomination) - Golden Bear
  • 1991: Silence of the Lambs (Won) - Silver Bear for Best Director
  • 1994: Philadelphia (Nomination) - Golden Bear