Oscar-winning `Silence of the Lambs` director Jonathan Demme dies
(Artdaily.org)

Jonathan Demme, Oscar-winning director of `The Silence of the Lambs` whose four-decade career produced a staggering array of work from romantic comedy to social and political documentaries, died Wednesday. He was 73. Demme passed away in New York surrounded by his family after a battle with cancer, his publicist announced. He will be laid to rest in a private, family funeral. He remains best known for the smash-hit 1991 horror-thriller starring Anthony Hopkins as serial killer Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling. The movie was box office gold and a dazzling critical success. It swept the 1992 Academy Awards, winning five Oscars including best picture, best actor for Hopkins and best actress for Foster. `I am heart-broken to lose a friend, a