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 few 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 project 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'. The latter was released in 1998 and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, with the television talk show host in the starring role.

'Storefront Hitchcock' (1998), 'The Truth About Charlie' (2002) and 'The Agronomist' (2003), which was a documentary, followed before Demme hit it big once more with 'The Manchurian Candidate' (2004). The movie starring Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight received largely positive reviews and paved the way for the director to work on two more documentaries, 'Neil Young: Heart of Gold', which was released in 2006, and 'Jimmy Carter Man from Plains' (2007).

'Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower 9th Ward', a television mini-series documentary, was also among Demme's 2007 releases. This project was followed by 'Rachel Getting Married' (2008), a drama starring Anne Hathaway, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role, and Debra Winger. He also worked on the documentary and concert film 'Neil Young Trunk Show' (2009).

Although he is a successful director and producer, Demme has also appeared in a number of productions in an acting role, ranging from 1977's 'The Incredible Melting Man' to the 2000 television series 'OZ'.

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