Director Ted Demme, dead at 38

Ted Demme celebrated at the March 2001 premiere of his movie "Blow."

SANTA MONICA, California (AP) -- Ted Demme, a film and television director whose credits include the film "Blow," died after playing basketball. He was 38.

Demme was participating in a celebrity basketball game at the private Crossroads School when he was stricken Sunday, said Ted Braun, a spokesman for Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.

Paramedics rushed Demme to the hospital's emergency room in full cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.

The cause of death has not been determined and an autopsy will be conducted, said Lt. Cheryl MacWillie of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

Demme, a nephew of director Jonathan Demme, directed Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in last year's "Blow." The film was based on the true story of George Jung, who was the American connection to the Colombian cocaine cartel in the late 1970s and early '80s when the drug became hip.

Demme, who lived in West Hollywood, also directed the 1996 film "Beautiful Girls" and was a director on the 1999 television series "Action."

His uncle, Jonathan Demme, was director of the 1991 film "Silence of the Lambs," which won the Oscar for best picture. He also directed the films "Philadelphia," "Married to the Mob" and "Something Wild."

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