Most popular and well known director associated with thrillers. Jonathan Demme.

Jonathan Demme

Jonathon Demme was born February 22, 1944 and is an American Director. He is best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director. The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American thriller film that blends elements of the crime andhorrorgenres.Directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Ted Levine, and Scott Glenn, the film is based on Thomas Harris' 1988 novel of the same name, his second to feature Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatristand cannibalisticserial killer. 
He has also directed other great films such as:

• Philadelphia
• Rachel Getting Married
• Stop Making Sense
• And a trilogy of Neil Young documentary/concert movies.