Director Ted Demme Dies At 37

Posted Monday, January 14, 2002 at 4:44 PM Central

by John Couture

The talented, young director Ted Demme died on Sunday at age 37. Demme, whose career was on the rise with the recent hits Blow and Life, collapsed during a celebrity basketball game on Sunday and was rushed to the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. He was pronounced dead from a massive heart attack 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Demme had been building a solid resume of work across the spectrum. He worked with everyone from Kevin Spacey in The Ref to Natalie Portman in Beautiful Girls. Perhaps his biggest fan was Denis Leary, who starred in almost all of Demme's films. Leary said, "Last Night, I lost one of my closest friends in the world. Ted Demme was a great friend, father and husband, a man whose talent was matched only by his incredible passion for life."