![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Mr. Demme with Jodie Foster on the set of "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991).
Ken Regan/Orion Pictures; thumbnail, Ken Regan/Camera 5/Tri-Star Pictures
Jonathan Demme
Died on April 26, 2017 at age 73
An Oscar-winning filmmaker, Mr. Demme observed emphatically American characters with a discerning eye, a social conscience and a rock ’n’ roll heart, achieving especially wide acclaim with “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia.”
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.