Robert Jonathan Demme (/ˈdɛmi/ DEM-ee; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He has directed such acclaimed films as; Melvin and Howard (1980), Swing Shift (1984), Something Wild (1986), Married to the Mob (1988), the concert film Stop Making Sense (1984), Philadelphia (1993) and Rachel Getting Married (2008). He's perhaps best known for directing the psychological horror The Silence of the Lambs (1991), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director.
