BATTLE of WILLS

The legendary filmmaker Norman Jewison had always planned to leave his $30-million estate to his three children. Then, in a will signed two months before his death, he bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to his second wife

- By Ben Kaplan

ON SEPTEMBER II, 2023, MIDWAY THROUGH THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, NORMAN JEWISON MADE HIS FINAL PUBLIC APPEARANCE.

The 97-year-old director hadn't released a movie in two decades, but he was still one of the most famous filmmakers alive. The Hazelton Hotel was christening its new 25-seat private screening room the Norman Jewison Cinema, and a small crowd had assembled to celebrate the unveiling. As the guest of honour was wheeled into the room, industry leaders—including Pinewood Toronto Studios founder Paul Bronfman, producer Rajiv Maikhuri and the Canadian Film Centre’s executive director, Maxine Bailey—cheered him on. Dressed in a dark suit over a blue button-down, Jewison stood, noticeably frail and leaning on his cane, as documentarian Barry Avrich whipped off the crimson cloth covering the plaque that bore Jewison’s name.

It was a moment that memorialized Jewison’s contributions to the industry while he was still around to enjoy the celebrations. The preceding few years had been a merry-go-round of parties, galas and screenings marking his illustrious career. Jewison, who had started off as an assistant director at the CBC, was best known for probing the American psyche via films about the Cold War (The Russians Are Coming), racial tensions (In the Heat of the Night) and the Vietnam War (In Country). Even his films set outside the States, like the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar (an acid-trip take on the crucifixion) and Fiddler on the Roof (about a fictional shtetl in imperial Russia) had a showy confidence that was unlike anything coming out of Canada at the time. And although Jewison made his fortune south of the border, he paid it forward back home, setting up the Canadian Film Centre in 1986 as a northern answer to the American Film Institute.