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| Norman Jewison |
Norman Jewison made his last film in 2003 but was so intrinsic to the history and development of the US film industry that it's hard to imagine it without him. He died today at the age of 97, and tributes have been pouring in from his many admirers.
A BAFTA winner and recipient of the AMPAS Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, Jewison was nominated for Golden Globes three times and for Oscars seven times. Working across many different genres, exploring many different themes, he revolutionised the industry by constantly daring it to do better. His In The Heat Of The Night was groundbreaking not just for how it represented Black people but also for how it lit them, giving a generation of actors of colour the chance to show what they were really capable of. His satire The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming saw him labelled a Communist sympathiser at the time when that could have put his career in serious jeopardy, but he never backed down.
Perhaps best known for romantic comedy Moonstruck, which gave Cher the chance to reinvent herself onscreen, he also directed classics like The Cincinnati Kid, The Thomas Crown Affair, Agnes Of God and Other People's Money. He loved musicals and brought Fiddler On The Roof to the screen in 1971, following up with Jesus Christ Superstar two years later.
Jewison was also highly active away from the camera, founding the Canadian Film Centre, which would go on to help launch the careers of filmmakers like Tassie Cameron and Vincenzo Natali, and assisting with the founding of the Toronto International Film Festival.
