Jonathan Demme Biography (1944-)

Born February 22, 1944, in Baldwin, NY; father, a public relations executive;mother, Dorothy Demme; married Evelyn Purcell (a producer and director; divorced); married Joanne Howard (an artist); children: (second marriage) RamonaCastle, Brooklyn James, Josephine. Addresses: Office: c/o Lee Winkler,Global Business Management, 9000 Sunset Blvd., Suite 1115, Beverly Hills, CA90069.; Agent: Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills,CA 90212.

Nationality
American
Gender
Male
Occupation
Director, producer, screenwriter
Birth Details
February 22, 1944
Baldwin, New York, United States

Famous Works

  • CREDITS
  • Film Director
  • (Opening sequence) Secrets of a Door-to-Door Salesman (also knownas Naughty Wives), 1973
  • Caged Heat (also known as Renegade Girls and Caged Females), New World, 1974
  • Crazy Mama, New World, 1975
  • Fighting Mad, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1976
  • Citizens Band (also known as Handle with Care and The Great American Citizens Band), Paramount, 1977
  • Last Embrace, United Artists, 1979
  • Melvin and Howard, Universal, 1980
  • Swing Shift, Warner Brothers, 1984
  • Stop Making Sense, Island Alive, 1984
  • Perfect Kiss, 1985
  • (And producer) Something Wild, Orion, 1986
  • Swimming to Cambodia (also known as Spalding Gray's Swimming toCambodia), Cinecom, 1987
  • Married to the Mob, Orion, 1988
  • Famous All Over Town, 1988
  • True Love, 1989
  • The Silence of the Lambs, Orion, 1991
  • Cousin Bobby, Cinevista, 1992
  • (And producer, with Edward Saxon) Philadelphia, TriStar, 1993
  • The Complex Sessions, 1994
  • Storefront Hitchcock, Orion, 1998
  • (And producer) Beloved, Buena Vista, 1998
  • (And producer) The Truth about Charlie, MCA/Universal, 2002
  • Film Producer
  • Angels Hard As They Come (also known as Angels, Angels As Hard As They Come, and Angels, Hell on Harleys), New World, 1971
  • (And second unit director) The Hot Box, New World, 1972
  • Miami Blues, Orion, 1990
  • One Foot on a Banana Peel, the Other Foot in the Grave (Secrets from the Dolly Madison Room), Clinica Estetico, 1994
  • That Thing You Do!, 1996
  • Mandela (also known as Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation), Island, 1996
  • Courage and Pain, 1996
  • Adaptation, Columbia, 2002
  • Film Executive Producer
  • Amos & Andrew, Columbia, 1993
  • Household Saints, Columbia, 1993
  • Roy Cohn/Jack Smith, 1994
  • Devil in a Blue Dress (also known as Le diable en robe bleue), TriStar, 1995
  • Shadrach, Columbia, 1998
  • Maangamizi: The Ancient One, Gris-Gris, 2000
  • Film Work
  • Other
  • Music coordinator, Sudden Terror (also known as Eyewitness), National General, 1970
  • Second unit director, Fly Me, 1972
  • Film Appearances
  • Matt, The Incredible Melting Man, LIVE, 1977
  • Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel, 1978
  • (Uncredited) Man on train, Last Embrace, 1979
  • Federal agent, Into the Night, Universal, 1985
  • Cousin Bobby, Cinevista, 1992
  • Major motion picture director, That Thing You Do!, 1996
  • Inside the Labyrinth: The Making of "Silence of the Lambs," Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-United Artists, 2001
  • Television Work
  • Movies
  • Director, Columbo: Murder under Glass, 1977
  • Producer and director, Haiti Dreams of Democracy, Channel 4 Television (Britain) and Bravo, 1988
  • Producer, "Women and Men II" (also known as "Women and Men: In Love ThereAre No Rules" and "A Domestic Dilemma"), HBO Showcase, HBO, 1991
  • Director, "Subway Car from Hell," and executive producer, Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground, HBO, 1997
  • Episodic
  • Director, "Murder in Aspic," Columbo, NBC, 1977
  • Director, "Who Am I This Time," American Playhouse, PBS, 1982
  • Director, Alive from Off Center, 1984
  • Creative consultant, "The Longest Shadow," P.O.V., PBS, 1992
  • Pilots
  • Director, "Surviving a Family Tree," PBS, 1984, broadcast as "A Family Tree," Trying Times, PBS, 1987
  • Specials
  • Director, Sun City (music video documentary), 1985
  • Segment director, "In the Still of the Night," Red, Hot & Blue, ABC, 1990
  • Television Appearances
  • Specials
  • Night Times Magazine, PBS, 1988
  • Haiti: Killing the Dream, PBS, 1992
  • Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (also known as Dial H Hitchcock:The Genius Behind the Snowman and Dial H for Hitchcock), TCM, 1999
  • Episodic
  • Commercial director, "Gray Matter," Oz, HBO, 2000
  • RECORDINGS
  • Albums
  • Compiler, Konbir: Burning Rhythms of Haiti, A&M Records, 1989
  • Videos
  • Codirected Bruce Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia, music video.
  • WRITINGS
  • Screenplays
  • (With Joe Viola) Angels Hard As They Come (also known as Angels, Angels As Hard As They Come, and Angels, Hell on Harleys), New World, 1971
  • (With Joe Viola) The Hot Box, New World, 1972
  • (From story) Black Mama, White Mama (also known as Women in Chains), 1972
  • Caged Heat (also known as Caged Females and Renegade Girls), New World, 1974
  • Fighting Mad, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1976
  • (As Rob Morton) Ladies and Gentlemen ... the Fabulous Stains, Paramount, 1982
  • (As Morton) Swing Shift, Warner Bros., 1984
  • Perfect Kiss, 1985
  • The Truth about Charlie, MCA/Universal, 2002
  • Television Movies
  • (With others) Haiti Dreams of Democracy, Channel 4 Television (Britain) and Bravo, 1988

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

    Books
    • Bliss, Michael and Christina Banks, What Goes Around Comes Around: TheFilms of Jonathan Demme, Southern Illinois University Press, 1996
    • International Directory of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, St. James Press, 1996
    • Kael, Pauline, Pauline Kael on Jonathan Demme: A Selection of ReviewsAccompanying the Retrospective Jonathan Demme, an American Director, Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), 1988
    Periodicals
    • Esquire, September, 1988, p. 207
    • Film Comment, January/February, 1991, p. 28
    • Interview, February, 1991, p. 16
    • New York Times Magazine, March 27, 1988, p. 48
    • People, May 25, 1987, p. 91
    • Premiere, September, 1988
    • Rolling Stone, May 19, 1988, p. 100; March 24, 1994, p. 60