Jonathan Demme, the director of huge films including Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia and Rachel Getting Married, has passed away at the age of 73.
A source close to his family revealed to IndieWire that his cause of death was esophageal cancer and complications from heart disease.
He had originally been treated for his cancer in 2010 but it returned in 2015, with his condition declining in recent weeks.
Jonathan leaves behind his wife Joanne Howard and his three children, Ramona, Brooklyn and Jos.
Hollywood executives, writers and critics paid tribute to Jonathan as the sad news broke.
Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood took to Twitter to say: "Sad to hear that Jonathan Demme has passed."
Edgar Wright, the writer and director of Shaun Of The Dead, tweeted: "Very sad to hear of the passing of the great Jonathan Demme.
"Admired his movies, his documentaries, his concert films. He could do anything."
Jonathan first came to the public's attention in the 1980s, with offerings including the comedies Melvin And Howard, Swing Shift and Something Wild.
His career was given a huge boost in 1991 when he took home the Academy Award for Best Director thanks to his work on Silence Of The Lambs, which also gave Anthony Hopkins the gong for Best Actor.
Demme also branched out into producing music documentaries, including the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense and the video anthology of Bruce Springsteen's catalogue between 1978 and 2000.
He became known for his cinematic style of including dramatic close-ups of his actors during tense scenes, which he later explained as wanting to put the audience in the character's shoes.