Norman Jewison

Member of the Jury for AFI Motion Pictures Awards in 2005.

The father of three children, Jewison hitchhiked across the Deep South region of the United States at age 18; he was struck by its apartheid-like, strictly enforced racial segregation. He considers The Hurricane (1999) the last in a trilogy of racial injustice movies he has directed, the first two being In the Heat of the Night (1967) and A Soldier's Story (1984). Jewison cast a then-largely unknown Denzel Washington in A Soldier's Story (1984), then coupled him with Rod Steiger in The Hurricane (1999).

(April 11, 1998) When Canadian Jewison's Best Director Oscar nomination for Moonstruck (1987) coincided with directors Adrian Lyne (UK) for Fatal Attraction (1987), John Boorman (UK) for Hope and Glory (1987), Lasse Hallström (Sweden) for My Life as a Dog (1985) and winner Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy) for The Last Emperor (1987), this was the only instance in Oscar history where all five Best Director nominees were non-Americans.

Was the original director of Malcolm X (1992), however had to withdraw from the project due to outside pressure demanding that the subject be made by a black filmmaker.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 14, 1988.

He was awarded the OC (Officer of the Order of Canada) on December 14, 1981 and the CC (Companion of the Order of Canada) on November 1, 1991 for his services to the film industry.

Directed the original versions of both Rollerball (1975) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Both films were later remade by John McTiernan.

Had his own voice dubbed into Jesus Christ Superstar (1973); he's the Old Man in "Peter's Denial".

Even though he was offended by this at first, A Clockwork Orange (1971) inspired him to make Rollerball (1975) a few years later.

In his DVD commentary for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Jewison recalled that shortly before he began production, Jewison took his family on a ski trip in Colorado. His broke his leg and went to the hospital. While there, he met New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy who also had an injured child in the hospital from his own ski trip. In the waiting room, the two men struck up a conversation. When he mentioned to Kennedy the movie he was working on, RFK became excited and said "This could be an important picture. Timing is everything." (RFK was famous for his championing of Civil Rights in the 1960s) Later, after the movie was released, one of the first awards it won was the New York Film Critics Award for Best Picture. When Jewison went to the ceremony to receive his award, he was presented with his award by none other than Robert F. Kennedy. When he got to the stage to accept the award, Kennedy was smiling and saying "See? I told you! Timing was everything!".

Directed five Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), A Soldier's Story (1984) and Moonstruck (1987). In the Heat of the Night (1967) won.

Norman Frederick Jewison was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Dorothy Irene (Weaver) and Percy Joseph Jewison, who managed a post office and a convenience store. His mother was an English immigrant, and his father was of English and Ulster-Scots descent. Jewison got his BA at Victoria College, University of Toronto, and after moving to London, where he wrote scripts and acted for the BBC, he returned to Toronto and directed TV shows for the CBC (1952-1958), then musicals and variety in New York, before embarking on a film career.

His favorite films are Bicycle Thieves (1948), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Casablanca (1942), Citizen Kane (1941), City Lights (1931), 8½ (1963), The 400 Blows (1959), Gunga Din (1939), Rashômon (1950) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 479-483. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1988).