Ted Demme

While it was interesting to read how Ted Demme's wife, Amanda, has chosen to grieve for her husband, the most telling thing was what was not there ("In the Wink of an Eye," Jan. 12). Reporter Gina Piccalo states that Amanda at first "asked that there be no sentimentality, no pitiful tales of life after Ted. And please, she said, no use of the word 'widow.' " Apparently she also insisted on no use of the word "cocaine." Demme may have used cocaine rarely; the coroner found only a small amount in his system.

HOLLYWOOD hot spot Teddy's has been temporarily shut down, and when it reopens later this spring it will do so without Amanda Scheer Demme, whose address book full of A-listers gave the nightclub its sizzle. Ending a run marked by success and controversy, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel this week severed ties with Demme, the 38-year-old widow of movie director Ted Demme and the name and face behind Teddy's and the poolside Tropicana Bar.

Funeral services for director-producer Ted Demme are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today at the Lot, 1041 N. Formosa Ave., Stage 5, West Hollywood. Those attending are asked to use the Poinsettia gate. Additional information is available at (323) 850-3180. Demme died Sunday at age 37 after participating in a celebrity basketball game.

LOVE it or hate it -- and both viewpoints have backers -- Amanda Scheer Demme's Tropicana Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel was the most talked-about spot in L.A. after it debuted last year. At once a favorite of A-list celebrities and a target of criticism by those who bemoaned the poolside lounge's new exclusivity, the Tropicana Bar became a lightning rod for attention.

It's Ted Demme's season. The New Yorker has directed the big-budget comedy "Life" with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence and the small-budget "Monument Ave.," set in Denis Leary's old Boston neighborhood. Demme, 34, also (via his Spanky Productions) produced "Rounders." Next he is producing an HBO film of Ernest Gaines' novel "A Lesson Before Dying" and developing a feature about the Go-Go's.

Ted Demme, the promising 37-year-old director of the movies "Blow" and "Beautiful Girls," and an award-winning TV director and producer, died Sunday after playing at a celebrity basketball game in Santa Monica. Demme, the father of a 2-month-old boy and 5-year-old girl, was pronounced dead at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center after paramedics rushed him there Sunday afternoon in full cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Amanda Scheer Demme can't sit still. She's walking from room to room, trying out sound bites, changing her clothes, primping in front of the mirror. In a few minutes, a film crew will interview her about her late husband, filmmaker Ted Demme, who died at 38 of a heart attack after a charity basketball game two years ago. But the mood inside her Hollywood Hills home is anything but somber. The Who is on the stereo and her friends are wandering in, some of them carrying bottles of champagne.

Friends of director Ted Demme, who was found to have small traces of cocaine in his system at the time of his death, said they were aware he occasionally used the drug but that they did not know his heart condition was so delicate. The official cause of Demme's death, announced over the weekend by the Los Angeles County medical examiner, was a heart attack, with coronary artery disease listed as a contributing factor.

Director Ted Demme had cocaine in his system when he had a heart attack and died last month after playing a celebrity basketball game in Santa Monica, coroner's officials said Saturday. The "small amount" of the drug may have contributed to the heart attack, said Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. David Smith. The original autopsy proved inconclusive, but further tests showed the presence of cocaine. Demme, 37, also suffered from buildup in his arteries, Smith said.

HOLLYWOOD hot spot Teddy's has been temporarily shut down, and when it reopens later this spring it will do so without Amanda Scheer Demme, whose address book full of A-listers gave the nightclub its sizzle. Ending a run marked by success and controversy, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel this week severed ties with Demme, the 38-year-old widow of movie director Ted Demme and the name and face behind Teddy's and the poolside Tropicana Bar.

While it was interesting to read how Ted Demme's wife, Amanda, has chosen to grieve for her husband, the most telling thing was what was not there ("In the Wink of an Eye," Jan. 12). Reporter Gina Piccalo states that Amanda at first "asked that there be no sentimentality, no pitiful tales of life after Ted. And please, she said, no use of the word 'widow.' " Apparently she also insisted on no use of the word "cocaine." Demme may have used cocaine rarely; the coroner found only a small amount in his system.

Amanda Scheer Demme can't sit still. She's walking from room to room, trying out sound bites, changing her clothes, primping in front of the mirror. In a few minutes, a film crew will interview her about her late husband, filmmaker Ted Demme, who died at 38 of a heart attack after a charity basketball game two years ago. But the mood inside her Hollywood Hills home is anything but somber. The Who is on the stereo and her friends are wandering in, some of them carrying bottles of champagne.

Friends of director Ted Demme, who was found to have small traces of cocaine in his system at the time of his death, said they were aware he occasionally used the drug but that they did not know his heart condition was so delicate. The official cause of Demme's death, announced over the weekend by the Los Angeles County medical examiner, was a heart attack, with coronary artery disease listed as a contributing factor.

Director Ted Demme had cocaine in his system when he had a heart attack and died last month after playing a celebrity basketball game in Santa Monica, coroner's officials said Saturday. The "small amount" of the drug may have contributed to the heart attack, said Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. David Smith. The original autopsy proved inconclusive, but further tests showed the presence of cocaine. Demme, 37, also suffered from buildup in his arteries, Smith said.

Funeral services for director-producer Ted Demme are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. today at the Lot, 1041 N. Formosa Ave., Stage 5, West Hollywood. Those attending are asked to use the Poinsettia gate. Additional information is available at (323) 850-3180. Demme died Sunday at age 37 after participating in a celebrity basketball game.

Ted Demme, the promising 37-year-old director of the movies "Blow" and "Beautiful Girls," and an award-winning TV director and producer, died Sunday after playing at a celebrity basketball game in Santa Monica. Demme, the father of a 2-month-old boy and 5-year-old girl, was pronounced dead at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center after paramedics rushed him there Sunday afternoon in full cardiac arrest. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

LOVE it or hate it -- and both viewpoints have backers -- Amanda Scheer Demme's Tropicana Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel was the most talked-about spot in L.A. after it debuted last year. At once a favorite of A-list celebrities and a target of criticism by those who bemoaned the poolside lounge's new exclusivity, the Tropicana Bar became a lightning rod for attention.

Life is full of surprises. Eddie Murphy coming back to earth after "Holy Man," for instance. Or the oft-crazed Martin Lawrence revealing an unsuspected gift for understatement. Or a movie starring the two of them that's so gracefully bittersweet and balanced that you forget they were in "Boomerang." It's not just a weird time of the year for movies, it's a weird year.

It's Ted Demme's season. The New Yorker has directed the big-budget comedy "Life" with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence and the small-budget "Monument Ave.," set in Denis Leary's old Boston neighborhood. Demme, 34, also (via his Spanky Productions) produced "Rounders." Next he is producing an HBO film of Ernest Gaines' novel "A Lesson Before Dying" and developing a feature about the Go-Go's.