Norman Jewison

Born: 21st July 1926
Where: Toronto, Canada

The five-times Oscar nominated director is reponsible for seminal movies ranging from the musical Fiddler on the Roof to the steamy crime drama In The Heat of the Night.

After serving in the Navy at the close of WWII and completing college in his native Canada, he moved to London in the early 1950s and finally broke into showbusiness as an actor/writer with the BBC.

An invitation to join a TV training programme at Canada's CBC made him return and within a few years, he was directing and producing major US variety programmes.

These included Showtime, The Big Revue, and Your Hit Parade, working with artists like Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland.

Jewison moved from New York to Hollywood where he directed his first Hollywood feature, 40 Pounds of Trouble, starring Tony Curtis.

The film did so well that Universal offered Norman a seven-picture contract, and his second film, The Thrill of It All, with Doris Day and James Garner.

He soon grew tired of the lightweight scripts the studio was offering, managed to find a loophole in his contract and switched to MGM, where he got straight to work on The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen, with whom he also made The Thomas Crown Affair.

It was The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming that bought Norman his first great success in the form of an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

He followed with the Oscar-winning steamy tale of racial prejudice In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier.

Jewison then switched styles to helm a movie adaptation of the stage musical, Fiddler on the Roof.

It received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and winning three, for Best Sound, Best cinematography and Best Musical Score.

Rollerball presciently foretold a world ruled by violent games while ...And Justice for All with Al Pacino was let down by a weak script.

Jewison regained success with A Soldier's Story, which marked his first collaboration with Denzel Washington, as well as his return to the ranks of Oscar nominees (Best Picture).

The romantic comedy Moonstruck, won three Oscars with one for Cher, but none for Norman.

After a three year break, Norman returned in 1994 with the romantic comedy Only You, then in 1999, he released The Hurricane with Denzel Washingon - a film he had wanted to make for 10 years.

Recent work includes the plodding thriller The Statement, starring Michael Caine and based on Brian Moore's novel.