Jonathan Demme Biography

Demme's mother was an actress, and his father worked in public relations. He hoped to become a veterinarian, but changed his mind at college and applied for a position as film critic at the university's newspaper.

After finishing college, Demme continued as a film critic for a small paper in Coral Gables, until his father introduced him to flamboyant producer, Joseph E. Levine. Levine was impressed with the young man's writing and, after a stint in the military, Demme was given a job as a publicist in the producer's organisation.

Over the next several years, Demme worked for several film companies, and continued to write about film and music.

While in London in 1970, he was recommended to Roger Corman, the independent producer/director, who soon gave Demme the opportunity to write a motorcycle picture for him. Demme teamed up with friend, Joe Viola, to turn the premise of Rashomon into a biker film, 'Angels Hard As They Come'.

After several more films for Corman, Demme was hired to direct the Hitchcockian thriller 'Last Embrace', and, in 1980, he landed 'Melvin and Howard'. While the film was only a modest commercial success, the New York Film Critics Circle named it the Best Film of 1980.

He then worked on 'Swing Shift', with Goldie Hawn, but they disagreed about the political focus of the project and he left.

The director's next movie was a concert film documenting the rock band Talking Heads. 'Stop Making Sense' was both a massive critical success and a surprise commercial hit, and he later directed music videos for artists such as Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen.

It was 1991's 'The Silence of the Lambs' that propelled Demme into the first rank of American filmmakers, earning him an Oscar for Best Director. Demme followed this success with the AIDS-related drama, 'Philadelphia', another blockbuster, and an adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel, 'Beloved'.

A political activist and collector of Haitian art, he has been married twice, first to director/producer Evelyn Purcell and later artist Joanne Howard.