USA: FILM DIRECTOR OF "BLOW" , TED DEMME DIES AGED 38

Record ID: 392341

  • Title: USA: FILM DIRECTOR OF "BLOW" , TED DEMME DIES AGED 38
  • Date: 29th March 2001
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 29, 2001) (REUTERS) VARIOUS SHOTS OF TED DEMME AT THE PREMIERE FOR "BLOW"
  • Embargoed: 13th April 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA9B5ZLMT8DB2SSN9VV6G8QZ09Q
  • Story Text: Ted Demme, director of last year's film "Blow" and nephew of Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Demme, has died at age 38 after suffering an apparent heart attack, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said on Monday (January 14).
    Demme collapsed while playing basketball on Sunday and was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center, according to a spokesman for the coroner's office.
    A spokesman for the hospital said he was brought in around 5:05 p.m. PST (0105 GMT) in full cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 5:28 p.m. PST (0128 GMT).
    The official cause of death will be determined by an autopsy.
    Dr. Matthew Budoff, a cardiologist at Harbor UCLA Medical Center, said it appeared Demme suffered from what is commonly referred to as "sudden cardiac death," which afflicts 250,000 Americans each year.
    Demme was best known for directing "Blow," a film starring Johnny Depp about the life of George Jung, a small-time marijuana dealer who became one of America's drug kingpins during the 1970s.
    He also directed the 1996 ensemble drama "Beautiful Girls," which starred Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Mira Sorvino, Timothy Hutton and Rosie O'Donnell.
    Demme, who co-directed Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia" music video, made his feature directorial debut with the 1993 film "Who's the Man?", a broad comedy billed as the "first hip-hop whodunit" starring MTV rap veejays Ed Lover and Doctor Dre.
    He also directed a television version of comedian Denis Leary's one-man act "No Cure for Cancer," which aired on the Showtime network in 1992, and the 1997 follow-up, "Denis Leary: Lock 'N' Load."
    Demme's uncle, Jonathan Demme, directed the 1993 AIDS drama "Philadelphia," which earned Tom Hanks an Oscar, and 1991 hit thriller "Silence of the Lambs," for which Demme won an Academy Award as best director.
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