Jewison, Norman 1926-

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Jewison, Norman 1926-
(Norman Frederick Jewison)

PERSONAL:

Born July 21, 1926, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; son of Percy Joseph (a manager of a general store and post office) and Dorothy Irene Jewison; married Margaret Ann Dixon (a former model), July 11, 1953; children: Kevin Jefferie, Michael Philip, Jennifer Ann. Education: Attended Malvern Collegiate Institute, 1940-44; Victoria College (now University of Toronto), B.A., 1950. Politics: Liberal. Religion: Protestant. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, yachting, tennis.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Knightsbridge Films Ltd., 18 Gloucester St., 5th Floor, Toronto, ONT M4Y 1L5, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Key Porter Books, 6 Adelaide St. East, 10th Floor, Toronto, ONT M5C 1H6, Canada.

CAREER:

Director, producer, actor, and writer. Films include The Art of Love, 1965, In the Heat of the Night, 1967, and Gaily, Gaily, c. 1970; director and producer of films, including The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, 1966, Fiddler on the Roof, 1970, In Country, 1989, Other People's Money, 1991, Only You, 1994, Bogus, 1996, The Hurricane, 1999, and The Statement, 2003; director and coproducer of films, including Jesus Christ Superstar, 1972, And Justice for All, 1979, A Soldier's Story, 1984, Agnes of God, 1985, and Moonstruck, 1987; In Country, 1989; Only You, 1994; Bogus, 1996; The Hurricane, 1999; The Statement, 2003; director of television programs, including episodes of Your Hit Parade, 1958, and of specials, including Tonight with Harry Belafonte, 1959; director and producer of television programs, including The Judy Garland Show, 1963-64, and Dinner With Friends, Home Box Office, 2001. Affiliated with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC-TV), 1952-58; Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS-TV), producer and director, 1958-61; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC-TV), actor and writer. Acted in several films and television shows, including Canadian Pacific, 1949, Gräulein Berlin, 1983; The Stupids, 1996; and The Statement, 2003. Institute for American Studies, Salzburg, Austria, faculty member, 1969; D'Avoriaz Film Festival, president, 1981—; Centre for Advanced Film Studies, former director, chairman emeritus, 1987-91. Military service: Royal Canadian Navy, 1945-46.

MEMBER:

Directors Guild of America (electoral board member), Canadian Arts Council.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Emmy Award, 1960, for The Fabulous Fifties; Academy Award Nomination, best picture, 1967, for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming; Golden Globe Award and Academy Award, both for best director, both 1968, both for In the Heat of the Night; Academy Award nominations, best picture and best director, both 1972, for Fiddler on the Roof; LL.D., University of Western Ontario, 1974; director of the year, National Association of Theatre Owners, 1982; officer, Order of Canada, 1982; honored by the American Civil Liberties Union, 1984; International Moscow Film Festival winner and Academy Award nomination, best picture, both 1985, for A Soldier's Story; Golden Globe nomination, best film, and Academy Award nomination, best director, both 1988, for Moonstruck; Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1998; Opus Award, 2001; Board of Governors Award, American Society of Cinematographers, 2003.

WRITINGS:

(With Melvyn Bragg) Jesus Christ Superstar (screenplay), Universal, 1973.

This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me: An Autobiography, foreword by John Patrick Shanley, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Norman Jewison once told Allan Gould, an interviewer for Influence, that among all the films he had made, one of the two that most satisfied him was Jesus Christ Superstar—"because I made a film out of a phonograph record," he explained. "And that's difficult to do. And it's an opera, and there aren't many operas made into films that have reached so many people. It has some of my best work, photographically, and in directorial vision." In addition to directing Jesus Christ Superstar, Jewison also cowrote, with Melvyn Bragg, the film's screenplay.

Jesus Christ Superstar, which had started out as a music album and then became a Broadway play, was brought to the screen by Jewison in 1973. With book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the rock opera featured seven young tourists in Israel who recreate the last days of Christ. The movie was a huge success with the public, grossing nearly twenty million dollars in box office receipts. Jewison's decision to film the movie on location in Israel was cited by critics to be among the movie's strengths, as was its unusual and lavish production.

"I believe my first obligation is to the writer and the material," Jewison told the Chicago Tribune 's Julia Cameron in speaking of his concerns as a producer and director. "I like writers. God, I enjoy writers!" Jewison added: "Although there is a certain amount of natural improvisation that occurs when shooting a movie, if you don't have a strong script, one that's logical and definitive, then usually you get into trouble. So you see, it all starts with the writer and the writer's idea."

In addition to being an author himself, Jewison has collaborated with numerous successful writers. Paul D. Zimmerman praised Jewison in Newsweek for the director's handling of reporter Ben Hecht's farcical story in the film Gaily, Gaily. The critic wrote that "Jewison tells it with … bravado" and asserted that Jewison "nailed the twists of [Hecht's] plot." Jewison has twice filmed the original scripts of John Patrick Shanley, who, like Jewison, was nominated for an Academy Award for Moonstruck. Strong writing has been associated with numerous Jewison projects; several of his critically acclaimed films, such as Agnes of God and A Soldier's Story, are adaptations of original plays. In the Heat of the Night, for which Jewison received the best director Oscar in 1967, was the winner of the best screenplay award as well.

Jewison took up writing duties when his biographer Jay Scott died from AIDS in 1993. Unable to complete the project, Scott made Jewison promise that he would complete the book. The result is Jewison's recounting of his own life in This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me: An Autobiography. Jewison writes of growing up in the Beaches area of Toronto and the misunderstandings he experienced when people thought he was Jewish, which he is not. Jewison also recounts his time in the Canadian Navy during the war and his hitchhiking experience in the United States, which opened his eyes to racial inequalities. He details his career, beginning with his work for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and his return to Canada at the age of twenty-four to begin Canada's first live television program. As the autobiography progresses, it details Jewison's extensive career in movies through various chapters devoted to specific projects. As noted by reviewers, the autobiography contains numerous anecdotes.

Globe & Mail contributor Angela Baldassarre wrote: "The gossip is kept to a minimum; it's not surprising that Jewison is considered a gentleman in the backstabbing circles of the moviemaking business. Any criticism is reserved for himself, and the only person he truly despises turns out to be a real cad." A Kirkus Reviews contributor called the book "instructive, engaging, entertaining." Whitney Scott, writing in Booklist, commented that Jewison's life is "presented with straightforward candor." A Publishers Weekly contributor concluded that Jewison's autobiography was "a successful study of what it takes to triumph in Hollywood and achieve artistic satisfaction."

Jewison is also one of the forces behind the creation of Toronto's Canadian National Center for Film Studies, described by Charles Champlin in the Los Angeles Times as the director's homeland's "equivalent of the American Film Institute."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Jewison, Norman, This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me: An Autobiography, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2005, Whitney Scott, review of This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, p. 38.

Chicago Tribune, September 8, 1985, interview with author.

Daily Variety, December 14, 2002, Dave McNary, "Jewison in ASC Governors Spotlight," p. 5.

Entertainment Weekly, February 7, 1997, Ty Burr, review of Bogus, p. 76; January 7, 2000, Owen Gleiberman, review of The Hurricane, p. 44; August 10, 2001, Bruce Fretts, review of Dinner with Friends, p. 56; December 19, 2003, Owen Gleiberman, review of The Statement, p. 55.

Globe & Mail (Toronto, ON, Canada), November 27, 2004, Angela Baldassarre, review of This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, p. D20.

Hollywood Reporter, February 13, 2003, Jon Silberg, "Dialogue with Norman Jewison," p. 1; November 14, 2003, Kirk Honeycutt, review of The Statement, p. 10.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2005, review of This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, p. 719.

Library Journal, August 1, 2005, Rosalind Dayen, review of This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, p. 88.

National Review, November 7, 1994, John Simon, review of Only You, p. 76.

Newsweek, January 5, 1970, Paul D. Zimmerman.

People, October 17, 1994, Leah Rozen, review of Only You, p. 21.

Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2005, review of This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, p. 80.

Toronto Life, March, 2004, Jack Batten, "The Storyteller," p. 82.

Variety, March 1, 1999, Richard Natale, "Filmaker with a Conscience," p. 50; December 20, 1999, Emanuel Levy, review of The Hurricane, p. 56; November 17, 2003, Scott Foundas, review of The Statement, p. 37.