R.I.P.

Oscar-Winning Director Jonathan Demme Dead at 73

Won Best Director Oscar for “The Silence of the Lambs.”

Acclaimed director Jonathan Demme died Wednesday morning in New York after suffering from esophageal cancer. He was 73. In a career that spanned more than four decades, Demme directed The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won an Academy Award in 1992, as well as dramas like Something Wild, Philadelphia, and Beloved. In later years, he directed Anne Hathaway to an Oscar nomination for 2008’s Rachel Getting Married and just two years ago helmed Ricki and the Flash starring Meryl Streep. Demme was also well-known for his dynamic music documentaries, most famously 1984’s Stop Making Sense with The Talking Heads, but also Neil Young: Heart of Gold in 2006 and most recently Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids.