See also Biography Index (T) :: Filmography Index (T) :: Discography Index (T)

Early life and career
Born in New York City, Demme grew up in Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York and attended South Side Senior High School. He was the nephew of movie producer and director Jonathan Demme. His career had modest beginnings — starting as a production assistant at MTV, he later created the cable network`s seminal hip-hop show Yo! MTV Raps and directed other projects for them, including the infamous black-and-white rants starring then-unknown chain-smoking comedian Denis Leary. His best known films were The Ref, starring Leary and Kevin Spacey, and Blow which featured Johnny Depp as George Jung (a high-profile drug dealer during the 1970s).

Over the course of his career, he established a group of actors that he chose to work with on more than one occasion. The most frequently used of these was Denis Leary, who he directed as a lead or star in No Cure for Cancer, The Ref, Denis Leary: Lock `n Load, and Monument Ave.. Leary also worked as producer on the film Blow. Other actors he frequently used included:

Noah Emmerich in Beautiful Girls, Monument Ave., Life, and (a cut scene in) Blow,
Max Perlich in Beautiful Girls and Blow, and
Adam LeFevre in The Ref and Beautiful Girls.

Personal life
Demme was married to Amanda Scheer with whom he had two children. Scheer later opened several popular Los Angeles bars including Teddy`s at the Roosevelt Hotel named in Demme`s honor.


Death
On January 13, 2002, while playing a game of basketball, Demme collapsed and died of a heart attack. Later, physicians told the cause of death (post-mortem)was due to large dosages of cocaine found in his system during an autopsy.


Filmography
Actor
Gun (1 episode)
Blow (2001)
Director
Yo! MTV Raps (1988, Unknown episodes)
The Bet (1992)
No Cure for Cancer (1992)
Who`s the Man? (1993)
The Ref (1994)
Beautiful Girls (1996)
Homicide: Life on the Street (2 episodes, 1994-1996)
Gun (1 episode, 1997)
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground (Segment: "Manhattan Miracle", 1997)
Denis Leary: Lock `n Load (1997)
Monument Ave. (1998)
Life (1999)
Action (1 episode, 1999)
Blow (2001)
A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Producer:
Yo! MTV Raps (1988, Unknown episodes)
Hangin` w/MTV (1992, Executive producer)
Monument Ave. (1998)
Rounders (1998)
Tumbleweeds (1999, Executive producer)
A Lesson Before Dying (1999, Executive producer)
Action (1 episode, Executive producer, 1999)
Blow (2001)
A Decade Under the Influence (2003