Canadian television director and producer Norman Jewison passed away peacefully at his home in Malibu, California on January 20, 2024. The three-time Academy Award nominee has died at the age of 97.
The news was shared by Norman Jewison's publicist Geoff Sanderson to several media outlets, including the BBC. However, Sanderson did not provide further details about the cause of death.
He is best known for directing classics including Absent-minded, In the heat of the nightAnd Fiddler on the Roof, the motion picture director is often mistaken for being Jewish, due to his surname. However, it must be pointed out He is not Jewish.
He is survived by his second wife, Lynn St. David Jewison, three children from his first marriage, and five grandchildren, according to Variety.
Everything you need to know about Norman Jewison's religion and his Jewish association
Norman Jewison was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and was of Anglo-Protestant descent.
According to Ira Welles' 2021 memoir about the director, Norman Jewison: The Life of a Director (Excerpt in Canadian Jewish News) Jewison's surname is often misinterpreted as the son of a Jew, which is why Norman often had to face anti-Jewish treatment from the local population. As a result, he befriended more Jews and felt welcome in their circle, he recalled in his 2021 memoir. Norman Jewison: The Life of a Director Written by Ira Wells.
All of these experiences influenced him when he made the film Fiddler on the Roofa period musical comedy based on the Broadway musical of the same name created by Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick.
The plot revolves around a poor Jewish milkman named Tevye and his plight to marry off his five daughters in Imperial Russia while battling the stress of his diaspora.
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Norman Jewison confessed during a 2022 documentary based on the industry Fiddler on the Roof When the producers of the play called him to turn it into a movie, he was skeptical and told them that he was not Jewish.
Regardless, his fame got him the job and he ended up making the film. According to his memoirs, in order to understand the Jewish experience, he visited Jerusalem, attended the Sabbath, visited a synagogue, and spent time with Orthodox Jewish families, exploring their traditions and cultures.
“I sympathize with certain aspects of the Jewish religion. I find it a very personal religion. Any deep feelings I have at all toward God and toward my religion are very personal,” he said in his memoirs.
Later, in 2003, he also directed another film called “Holocaust”. Statement.
Interestingly, Jewison once told his old friend Karl Reiner about this Fiddler on the Roof She helped him find “in some way, my own Judaism.”
While Jewison was rumored to have considered converting to Judaism, he has denied such speculation over the years, joking that he then had to change his name to Norman Christianson.
In 2010, he had a Jewish wedding when he married his second wife, Lynn St. David Jewison. The wedding was reportedly attended by a rabbi and a chuppah, among other Jewish elements.
