Norman Jewison, the Oscar-nominated director of “In the Heat of the Night” and “Moonstruck” whose half-century career of filmmaking defied categorization, has died at age 97, his publicist said Monday.
The Canadian-born Jewison worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Steve McQueen, Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier and Cher.
The singer-turned-actress; Cher took to social media to bid farewell to a “Sweet Prince.”
“Thank U For One Of The Greatest, Happiest, Most Fun Experiences Of My Life,” Cher wrote in reference to her Oscar-winning role in “Moonstruck.”
“Without U, I Would Not Have My Beautiful Golden Man.”
Over an eclectic career he hopped among genres, helming musicals including “Fiddler on the Roof” as well as comedies and romances, but is best known for films tackling weighty social issues.
Jewison began his career in television, but moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s where he teamed up with Tony Curtis for the comedy “40 Pounds of Trouble,” a box office hit.
Two films with Doris Day followed with Jewison tied to Universal, a partnership that also saw him working with James Garner on “The Art of Love.”
Oscar recognition came in 1966 with quirky comedy “The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming,” when he scored a nomination for best picture.
But it was with “In the Heat of the Night” that he announced his arrival as a serious auteur, conjuring memorable turns from Oscar-winner Rod Steiger as a racist Southern sheriff playing opposite Poitier.
The film won an Academy Award for best picture, and he was nominated as best director.
Jewison paired up with McQueen for the smash “The Thomas Crown Affair” and then pivoted to a silver-screen version of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which audiences lapped up.
More music was to follow with the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar,” with Joshua Mostel playing the deliciously camp King Herod.
In 1975 he directed James Caan in dystopian action flick “Rollerball” before teaming up with Al Pacino for the dark 1979 comedy “…And Justice for All.”
It was in 1987 that he hit commercial and critical gold with “Moonstruck,” starring Cher and Olympia Dukakis, who both bagged acting Oscars. The film also introduced the world to Nicolas Cage.
The following few years saw projects with Bruce Willis (“In Country”), Robert Downey Jr (“Only You”) and Whoopi Goldberg (“Bogus”).
In 1999 he directed Washington to the Best Actor statuette in “The Hurricane,” a true story of a boxer wrongly accused of murder.
