Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme dies at 73

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs, has died at age 73 after a battle with cancer diagnosed in 2010. He returned to public life in 2015 as a jury member at the Venice Film Festival and with the rock film Ricki and the Flash starring Meryl Streep. Demme began his career as a film critic and later worked with Roger Corman on screenplays. He directed his first film, Caged Heat, in 1974. His breakthrough came in 1991 with The Silence of the Lambs, winning the Academy Award for Best Director. In 1993, he directed Philadelphia, for which Tom Hanks won Best Actor and Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the title song. His later work included political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and documentaries such as Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006). His final film was Ricki and the Flash (2015).