Anecdotes

Collapsed after playing in a celebrity basketball game for the NBA Entertainment League and died a few hours later at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica.

Nephew of Jonathan Demme

The original ending of Drôles d'otages (1994) had Denis Leary being caught by the cops to show the son that a life of crime leads nowhere. However, after screening the movie to a test audience and receiving negative comments about the ending, Ted changed it. He later admitted he regretted the change.

Started his career from the bottom rung, working as a production assistant at MTV before going on to create Yo! MTV Raps (1988) and directing other spots, including the cable network's infamous famous black-and-white rants starring then-unknown cigarette-sucking funny guy Denis Leary.

Musician Greg Dulli, who appears with his band, The Afghan Whigs, in Demme's film, Femmes de rêve (1996), was so distraught when he heard of his death that he scrapped a nearly completed album for his band, The Twilight Singers, and wrote an entirely new set of songs.

Frequently cast Noah Emmerich.

Coroners announce that a small amount of cocaine found in Demme's body may have caused his fatal thrombotic heart attack and have ruled the death accidental. (3 février 2002)

He and his wife, Amanda Scheer-Demme, had a 5-year-old daughter and a 2-month-old son, as of January 2002.

Demme's last big-screen release before his death was Cartel (2001), a film about the career of major cocaine smuggler George Jung. Ironically, the director died of a heart attack induced by cocaine use.

Nephew-in-law of Joanne Howard.

Cousin of Jos Demme.