Norman Jewison, ‘Moonstruck’ Director, Dead at 97
Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind The Hurricane, The Thomas Crown Affair and Fiddler on the Roof, died at home
Norman Jewison, the versatile, acclaimed filmmaker behind movies like Fiddler on the Roof and In the Heat of the Night, died Saturday at home, his publicist announced Monday. He was 97.
Jewison was a seven-time Oscar nominee and earned the Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 1999. He earned both Best Director and Best Picture nods for the 1971 musical Fiddler on the Roof and the 1987 rom-com Moonstruck, starring Cher. He also was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture for 1976’s In the Heat of the Night. The latter film was one of numerous movies Jewison directed that focused on race relations, including 1984’s A Soldier’s Story and 1999’s The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington. He also directed movies Send Me No Flowers in 1964, The Cincinnati Kid in 1965, and Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973. Jewison’s last film came in 2003 with The Statement, starring Michael Caine.
Jewison was born in Toronto on July 21, 1927. He attended the Malvern Collegiate Institute and Victoria College at the University of Toronto. He first worked as a writer for children’s shows on the BBC before directing TV programs like The Big Review, Wayne and Shuster and Showtime.
He released an autobiography called This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me in 2004, and later received a Directors Guild’s lifetime achievement award in 2010.
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