Ted Demme, whose credits include directing the movie “Blow” and co-founding and producing the seminal hip-hop program “Yo! MTV Raps,” died of an apparent heart attack after playing basketball on Sunday. He was 38. Demme joined MTV in 1985 as a production assistant and worked on a variety of programs, including the game show “Remote Control,” before launching “Yo! MTV Raps” in 1988.
In the ’90s, Demme left MTV to pursue a career as a director, making films such as “Who’s the Man?,” “Beautiful Girls” and most recently “Blow,” starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.
Demme also helmed the video for Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia.” The track was recorded for “Philadelphia,” a film directed by Demme’s uncle, Jonathan Demme, who won an Academy Award for “The Silence of the Lambs.”