Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme, best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, died on Wednesday at the age of 73. His publicist said he died from complications from oesophageal cancer, reported BBC.
“Sadly, I can confirm that Jonathan passed away early this morning in his Manhattan apartment, surrounded by his wife, Joanne Howard, and three children,” the publicist said in a statement.
The Silence of Lambs (1991), starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, won five Oscars in 1992, including the Best Director award for Demme. His other well-known films are Philadelphia, Stop Making Sense (1984), Something Wild (1986) and the documentary Talking Heads. The last film he had directed was Ricki and the Flash in 2015, starring Meryl Streep.
“Jonathan taught us how big a heart a person can have, and how it will guide how we live and what we do for a living,” actor Tom Hanks who starred in Philadephia directed by Demme said.
Oscar-winning film Moonlight director Barry Jenkins also paid his condolences.
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