Jonathan Demme, 'Silence of the Lambs' director, dead at 73

NEW YORK (AP) — Jonathan Demme, the eclectic, ever-enthusiastic filmmaker behind the Oscar winners "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Philadelphia," and the director of one of the most seminal concert films ever made, the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense," has died. He was 73.

Demme's publicist, Annalee Paulo, said Demme died this morning in his New York apartment, surrounded by his wife, Joanna, and three children. Demme died from complications from esophageal cancer, she said.

Demme broke into moviemaking under the B-movie master Roger Corman in the early 1970s. "The Silence of the Lambs," the 1991 thriller starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster as an FBI analyst, brought him a new level of fame. The film earned him a directing Oscar, as well as best picture. Hopkins and Foster also earned best acting trophies for their roles.

"The Silence of the Lambs," however, was an outlier in his filmography, which was scattered across comedy, drama and music. His screwball comedy "Something Wild" starred Jeff Bridges and Melanie Griffith. "Philadelphia," with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, was one of the first major Hollywood films to confront the AIDS crisis.

Demme last year released his latest concert film, "Justin Timberlake and the Tennessee Kids," on Netflix. Timberlake, a passionate fan of "Stop Making Sense," sought out Demme to direct it.