Heat Of The Night, Moonstruck director Norman Jewison dies, aged 97
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Director Norman Jewison at the premiere of The Hurricane in Los Angeles on Dec 14, 1999. The Oscar-nominated director died at the age of 97, his publicist said on Jan 22, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – Norman Jewison, the Oscar-nominated director of In The Heat Of The Night (1967) and Moonstruck (1987) whose half-century career of film-making defied categorisation, has died at age 97, his publicist said on Jan 22.
The Canada-born Jewison worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Steve McQueen, Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier and Cher.
Singer-actress Cher took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to bid farewell to a “Sweet Prince”.
“Thank you for one of the greatest, happiest, most fun experiences of my life,” she wrote in reference to her Oscar-winning role in Moonstruck.
“Without you, I would not have my beautiful golden man.”
Over an eclectic career, Jewison hopped among genres, helming musicals including Fiddler On The Roof (1971), as well as comedies and romances, but is best known for films tackling weighty social issues.
He began his career in television but moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s, where he teamed up with Tony Curtis for the comedy 40 Pounds Of Trouble (1962), a box-office hit.
Two films with Doris Day followed, with Jewison tied to Universal, a partnership that also saw him working with James Garner on The Art Of Love (1965).
Oscar recognition came in 1966 with quirky comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, when he scored a nomination for Best Picture.
But it was with In The Heat Of The Night that he announced his arrival as a serious auteur, conjuring memorable turns from Oscar-winner Rod Steiger as a racist Southern sheriff playing opposite Poitier.
The film won five Oscars at the Academy Awards in 1968, including for Best Picture. Jewison was nominated for Best Director.
Jewison paired up with McQueen for the smash The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and then pivoted to a silver-screen version of Fiddler On The Roof, which audiences lapped up.
More music was to follow with the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) with Joshua Mostel playing the deliciously camp King Herod.
In 1975, he directed James Caan in dystopian action flick Rollerball before teaming up with Al Pacino for the dark 1979 comedy And Justice For All.
It was in 1987 that he hit commercial and critical gold with Moonstruck, starring Cher and Olympia Dukakis, who both bagged acting Oscars. The film also introduced the world to Nicolas Cage.
The following years saw projects with Bruce Willis (In Country, 1989), Robert Downey Jr (Only You, 1994) and Whoopi Goldberg (Bogus, 1996).
In 1999, he directed Washington in The Hurricane, a true story of a boxer wrongly accused of murder.
Jewison was born in Toronto on July 21, 1926, and made his acting debut at the age of five.
He spent time in the Royal Canadian Navy, and earned his bachelor’s degree at University of Toronto’s Victoria College.
A stint as a cab driver underpinned his nascent acting career at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Over the following few years, he wrote, directed and produced some of Canada’s most popular musicals, dramas, comedy-variety shows and specials for the CBC.
Canada made Jewison an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1982, and a member of the Order of Ontario in 1989. In 1992, he was decorated with the Companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian award.
Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge wrote on social media that Jewison’s many films resonated with people all over the world.
“Norman Jewison’s films were unique stories because of his special talent,” she said.
The Canadian Film Centre said it was mourning the loss of its founder, a man it called a “brilliant storyteller”.
“Norman was loved for his creative spirit, his infectious energy and his distinct voice,” it said.
“His legacy will live on through his timeless films and the countless individuals and organisations he has inspired, and will continue to inspire, for generations to come.”
Jewison married Margaret Ann Dixon, a model, in 1953. She died in 2004. He married Lynne St David in 2010.
He is survived by two sons from his first marriage, Kevin and Michael; a daughter, Jenny Snyder; and five grandchildren. AFP, NYTIMES
