Famed film director Norman Jewison dies aged 97

Canadian film director Norman Jewison, whose eclectic array of masterpieces included the 1967 racial drama "In the Heat of the Night," and the 1987 romantic comedy "Moonstruck" has died at the age of 97, his publicist said.

Jewison, who was nominated three times for the Academy Award for best director and received a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1999, died at his home on Saturday.

The Toronto native, whose films also included the 1966 Cold War satire The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming and the provocative 1973 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, was considered one of the most important directors of the last four decades of the 20th century. He was widely admired for his ability to craft powerful films in many different genres.

His movies received 46 Academy Award nominations and won 12 Oscars. In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, won the best picture Oscar for 1967.

Jewison's 1987 Moonstruck became one of Hollywood's most popular romantic comedies. It tells the story of a Brooklyn widow, played by Cher, who agrees to marry a man she does not love and then falls in love with his brother, played by Nicolas Cage.

After Cage passionately tells Cher he loves her, she memorably slaps his face and scolds: "Snap out of it!" Cher won the best actress Oscar for her sassy performance.

Jewison's travels as a young man in 1940s America - seeing blatant white racism against Black people in the South - influenced his films, especially his three race dramas: In the Heat of the Night, A Soldier's Story (1984) and The Hurricane (1999).

In the Heat of the Night focused on the relationship between a black police officer (Poitier) and a white sheriff (Steiger) in a racist Southern town. The sight of Poitier's character striking a rich white landowner shocked some moviegoers at that time.

Other important Jewison films included Steve McQueen entries The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), and dystopian corporate tyranny nightmare Rollerball (1975).