Norman Jewison, Director Of “Fiddler On The Roof” And “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Has Died

According to publicist Jeff Sanderson, Canadian film director Norman Jewison died this Monday at the age of 97. The author of era-defining works such as Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), he made his debut with Soltero en apuros (1962), but his first major success came with In the Heat of the Night ( 1967). a film between thriller and denunciation cinema.

In Fiddler on the Roof he mixed the musical and sense of humor of the Jewish people in Ukraine. In 1975 he directed the musical Rollerball and in 1981 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

During his long career, Jewison combined light entertainment with topical films, which he also mixed with deeply personal feelings. When he completed his military service in the Canadian Navy during World War II, he hitchhiked through the American South and got a first-hand look at racial segregation. In his autobiography, This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me, he noted that racism and injustice became his most common themes. In fact, Jewison participated in human rights marches and met Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Kathryn Bigelow poses with Norman Jewison (r.) in Los Angeles in 2013.Phil McCarten (Portal)

“Any time a film deals with racism, many Americans feel uncomfortable,” he wrote. “However, you have to deal with it. We must confront prejudice and injustice, otherwise we will never understand what is good and evil, right and wrong; We need to feel how the other person feels.”

Starting in the 1980s, he directed projects such as “Agnes de Dios,” “Hechizo de Luna,” which won Cher an Oscar, and “Huracán Carter.” Jewison's career also included titles such as “The Thomas Crown Affair” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Moonstruck,” which earned him four Oscar nominations between 1972 and 1988.

Jewison was nominated three more times: as best picture for A Soldier's Story (1985) and for What the Russians Are Coming (1967), as well as best director for In the Heat of the Night (1968), a film with which he won Oscar for best film. In total, his films received 46 nominations and 12 Oscars. He came to Hollywood in the 1960s after triumphing on British, Canadian and American television, Variety magazine recalled last Monday.

In the world of television, he was executive producer of Judy Garland's weekly variety show, “The Judy Garland Show.” He also won the American Academy's Irving Thalberg Award in 1999. “The only thing I really regret about winning this prize is that it is not comparable to the Nobel Prize or the Pulitzer Prize. “It doesn’t include money,” he joked in his acceptance speech.

Norman Jewison, director of “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” has died

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