Was Norman Jewison Jewish? Religion explored as iconic Canadian director dies aged 97 

Canadian filmmaker and television producer Norman Jewison passed away peacefully at his home in Malibu, California on January 20, 2024. The three-time Oscar nominee died at the age of 97.

The news was shared by Norman Jewison’s publicist Jeff Sanderson to several media outlets, including BBC. However, Sanderson did not provide further details surrounding the cause of the death.

Renowned for directing classics including Moonstruck, In the Heat of the Night, and Fiddler on the Roof, the motion picture director is often confused as Jewish, reportedly because of his surname. However, it must be noted that he is not Jewish.

He is survived by his second wife Lynne St. David Jewison, three children from his first marriage, and five grandchildren, as per Variety.

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All you need to know about Norman Jewison’s religion and his Jewish association

Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Norman Jewison belonged to the Anglo-Protestant ancestry.

As per Ira Wells' 2021 memoir on the director, Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life (excerpted in The Canadian Jewish News), the surname Jewison was often reportedly misinterpreted as a Jew’s son, which is why Norman too often had to face anti-Jewish treatment from locals. As a result, he befriended more Jews and felt welcomed in their circle, as mentioned in his 2021 memoir Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life written by Ira Wells.

All of these expriences impacted him when he made the film Fiddler on the Roof, the period comedy musical based on the eponymous Broadway musical created by Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick.

The plot revolves around a poor Jewish milkman named Tevye and his plight to get his five daughters married in an imperial Russia while combating the tension in his shtetl.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Norman Jewison confessed during a 2022 documentary based on the making of Fiddler on the Roof that when he was approached by the producers of the play to turn it into a film, he was skeptical and even informed them that he wasn’t Jewish.

Regardless of that, his fame earned him the job and he ended up making the film. According to his memoir, to understand the Jewish experience, he even visited Jerusalem, attended the Sabbath, visited a synagogue, and spent time with orthodox Jewish families, exploring their traditions and cultures.

“I identify with certain aspects of the Jewish religion. I find it a very personal religion. Any deep feelings I have at all about God, and about my own religion, are very personal,” he said in his memoir.

Later, in 2003, he also directed another film based on the Holocaust, titled The Statement.

Interestingly, Jewison once told his longtime friend Carl Reiner that making Fiddler on the Roof helped him find “in a way, in myself, my own Jewishness.”

While rumor had it that Jewison considered converting to Judaism, over the years, he dismissed the speculations, joking he then had to convert his name to Norman Christianson.

In 2010, he had a Jewish wedding when he married his second wife Lynne St. David Jewison. The wedding reportedly had a rabbi and chuppah present, among other Jewish elements.