Director of “In the Heat of the Night”: Filmmaker Norman Jewison dies

Award-winning film director Norman Jewison has died aged 97. This was announced by his spokesman. The Canadian became known in the late 1960s through the Oscar-winning drama “In the Heat of the Night.”

Norman Jewison, director of award-winning films such as “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), “Anatevka” (1971), “Moonstruck” (1987) and “Hurricane” (1999), is dead. Jewison was “peaceful” on Saturday died in his home, his spokesman said. The Canadian-born man was 97 years old.

In his long career, Jewison was nominated for an Oscar seven times as a director and producer. In 1999, he received the Irving G. Thalberg Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Academy Awards.

Jewison began his Hollywood career in 1962 with a few comedies with Doris Day and Tony Curtis, among others. Jewison brought Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger in front of the camera for the racism drama “In the Heat of the Night”. The film won five Oscars in 1968, including Best Picture.

Berlinale Prize for “Moonstruck”

After musicals like “Anatevka” and “Jesus Christ Superstar”, he had success in 1987 with the romantic comedy “Moonstruck”, which won Cher the Oscar for best actress. Jewison received the Berlinale Directing Prize for the romantic story about the Italian immigrant environment.

With leading actor Denzel Washington, Jewison presented the drama “The Hurricane” about the life of professional boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter at the Berlinale in 2000. His last film, “The Statement,” was released in 2003. In it, Michael Caine played a French Nazi collaborator and war criminal who, after decades, is caught up in the past.