Norman Jewison
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Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, BA, LL.D (born July 21, 1926) is a Canadian film director, producer, and actor.
He was born and raised in Toronto and attended Victoria College, in the University of Toronto. After serving in the Navy during World War II, in the early 1950s he embarked on a trip through the southern United States, where he was appalled by the open racism and inequality. This experience gave him a lifelong concern with racial issues and discrimination that can be clearly seen in many of his films, including the acclaimed In the Heat of the Night.
In 1981, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1991. In 1988, Jewison founded the Canadian Film Centre, an advanced film and television training institute located in Toronto, Ontario. He has been nominated for the best director Academy Award on a number of occasions, but has never won. In 1998, he was awarded The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, awarded periodically at the Academy Awards ceremonies to "Creative producers, whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production." For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Norman Jewison has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Despite much conjecture that Jewison was "forced out" of directing the movie Malcom X, Spike Lee avows on the DVD's commentary that Jewison gracefully bowed out after Lee had argued his case in a meeting with both Jewison and producer Marvin Worth. Spike Lee has expressed his gratitude extensively, " He (Jewison) gracefully bowed out, which he didn't have to do. I will forever be grateful to him for that." [1]
In 2004, Norman Jewison published his autobiography titled This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me. On November 26, 2004 his wife Margaret Ann (Dixie) Jewison died due to undisclosed causes a day after her 74th birthday in Orangeville, Ontario. She had been a source of inspiration for Jewison's film making career.
Despite his surname and his fame for directing the film version of Fiddler on the Roof and The Statement, Jewison is not Jewish. His religious background is British Protestant.
Contents |
As director:
- 40 Pounds of Trouble (1963)
- The Thrill of It All (1963)
- Send Me No Flowers (1964)
- The Art of Love (1965)
- The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
- The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)
- In the Heat of the Night (1967)
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
- Gaily, Gaily (1969)
- Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
- Rollerball (1975)
- F.I.S.T. (1978)
- ...And Justice for All (1979)
- Best Friends (1982)
- A Soldier's Story (1984)
- Agnes of God (1985)
- Moonstruck (1987)
- In Country (1989)
- Other People's Money (1991)
- Only You (1994)
- Bogus (1996)
- The Hurricane (1999)
- Dinner with Friends (2001) (TV)
- Walter and Henry (2001) (TV)
- The Statement (2003)
- Officer of the Order of Canada (1982)
- Companion of the Order of Canada (1992)
- 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (1992)
- Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
Other Canadian Awards
- Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement (1992)
- Order of Canada Citation
- Norman Jewison at the Internet Movie Database
- CBC Digital Archives: Master Storyteller Norman Jewison
Categories: Canadian film actors | Canadian film directors | Canadian film producers | Genie Award winners | Hollywood Walk of Fame | University of Toronto alumni | Canada's Walk of Fame | Canadian people of World War II | Companions of the Order of Canada | People from Toronto | Canadian actors | 1926 births | Living people