Born July 21, 1926 in Toronto, Canada, to convenience store and post office manager Percy Jewison and his wife, Dorothy, Norman Jewison displayed an aptitude for performing at an early age.
After serving in the Canadian Navy during World War II, Jewison travelled to the American South where he encountered segregation, an experience that would have a strong influence on his later work. Returning to Canada, he attended Victoria College in the University of Toronto where he was involved in writing acting and directing various theatrical productions. Following his graduation in 1949, he moved to London where he worked sporadically as a script writer and bit part actor for the BBC. He returned to Canada in 1951, working for the CBC.
In 1953, Jewison married Margaret Ann Dixon with whom he would have three children. In 1958, he was recruited by NBC in New York where he produced Your Hit Parade and The Andy Williams Show as well as various specials culminating in the 1962 Judy Garland “comeback” special which brought him to the attention of Hollywood filmmakers.
Jewison’s first film was 1962’s 40 Pounds of Trouble, a remake of Little Miss Marker starring Tony Curtis and Susanne Pleshette. From there it was one hit film per year for the remainder of the decade including 1963’s The Thrill of It All with Doris Day and James Garner, 1964’s Send Me No Flowers with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson for which veteran character actress Joan Blondell won a National Board of Review award and a Golden Globe nomination.
1966’s The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming with a cast headed by Alan Arkin and John Phillip Law earned Jewison his first Oscar nomination for Best Picture. 1967’s In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger earned him his second Oscar nomination, his first for Best Director. Although the film won the Oscar for Best Picture, he lost the Best Director award to Mike Nichols for The Graduate. He rounded out the decade with 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway and 1969’s Gaily, Gaily with Beau Bridges and Melina Mercouri.
Jewison had another blockbuster hit with 1971’s Fiddler on the Roof with Topol reprising his starring role from the London production, receiving Oscar nods for both Best Picture and Best Director. He had further successes with the 1973 rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar and the 1975 science-fiction film, Rollerball. He had less success with the 1978 crime drama, F.I.S.T. with Sylvester Stallone, and the 1979 courtroom drama, …And Justice for All, although star Al Pacino did receive an Oscar nod for is over-the-top performance in that one
The producer-director had better luck with his 1984 courtroom drama, A Soldier’s Story, and his 1985 mystery-drama, Agnes of God with Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft. 1987’s Moonstruck returned him to Oscar glory with nominations for both Best Picture and Best Director, earning acting Oscars for Cher and Olympia Dukakis. He had a minor success with 1989’s In Country with Bruce Willis but is 1990s output was disappointing.
Norman Jewison was given the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg award by the Academy at the 1998 Oscars after which he retired to academia in Canada, becoming chancellor of his alma mater from 2004-2010. His wife Margaret Ann died in 2004. He married second wife Lynne St. David in 2010. Back in Los Angeles, he died in his home there on January 20, 2024 at the age of 97.
ESSENTIAL FILMS
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
Jewison’s turbulent masterpiece is well remembered for its groundbreaking study of racial prejudice in the American South and the unforgettable performances of Sidney Poitier as a black Philadelphia detective on vacation in the deep south who stumbles onto a murder investigation and Rod Steiger in his Oscar winning portrayal of a bigoted chief of police. It is also the first, and to date, only murder mystery to win an Oscar for Best Picture. Poitier, who also had great success with To Sir, with Love and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner that same year but was oddly not nominated for his work in any of those films.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971)
Jewison always maintained that he got to produce and direct the film version of the legendary Broadway musical because the studio thought that with his name, he must be Jewish. He wasn’t, but he did a great job directing Topol and the amazing supporting cast in Sholom Aleichem’s tale of the Jewish peasant in pre-revolution Russia contending with marrying off three daughters with modern romantic ideals while growing anti-Semitic sentiment threatens his village. Topol as Tevye the milkman and Leonard Frey as Motel the tailor received three of the film’s eight Oscar nods, of which Jewison received two for producing and directing the film.
A SOLDIER’S STORY (1984)
Jewison’s second Oscar nominated film about racism from Charles Fuller’s play was about “black racism”, the racial discrimination of blacks against blacks. Set in a U.S. Army barracks during World War II, Howard E. Rollins plays the officer tasked with investigating the murder of a master sergeant (Oscar nominee Adolph Caesar). Denzel Wahington co-stars in his breakthrough film role as one of suspects. Others include David Alan Grier, David Harris, Larry Riley, and Robert Townsend. Patti LaBelle, Wings Hauser, and Trey Wilson have featured roles. Rollins later played Sidney Poitier’s role in the TV version of In the Heat of the Night.
AGNES OF GOD (1985)
Jewison got to direct this one in his native Canada with Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, and Meg Tilly in the roles played on Broadway by Elizabeth Ashley, Geraldine Page, and Amanada Plummer as respectively, a psychiatrist, a Mother Superior of an order of Catholic nuns, and a naïve postulant who is found in her room with a dead newborn. Page and Plummer were nominated for Tonys for their stage performances, with Plummer winning, while Bancroft and Tilly were nominated for Oscars with neither winning. Ironically, Page who was passed over for the film, won the Oscar for The Trip to Bountiful over Bancroft.
MOONSTRUCK (1987)
Jewison, whose first five films were hit comedies, returned to the genre for what would become his own favorite among his films, and many other people’s as well. Cher won an Oscar for her portrayal of an Italian American bookkeeper who falls for the young brother (Nicolas Cage) of the man (Danny Aiello) she is supposed to marry. Olympia Dukakis also won an Oscar for playing her mother while Vincent Gardenia received a nomination for playing her father. Jewison was himself nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director, losing both awards to The Last Emperor which was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
NORMAN JEWISON AND OSCAR
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966) – nominated – Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night (1967) – nominated – Best Director
Fiddler on the Roof (1971) – nominated – Best Director
Fiddler on the Roof (1971) – nominated – Best Picture
A Soldier’s Story (1984) – nominated – Best Picture
Moonstruck (1987) – nominated – Best Director
Moonstruck (1987) – nominated – Best Picture
Honorary Award (1998) – won – Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
