Jewison got his BA at Victoria College, University of Toronto, and after moving to London, where he wrote scripts and acted for the BBC, he returned to Toronto and directed TV shows for the CBC (1952-1958), then musicals and variety in New York, before embarking on a film career. In 1986 he established the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies in Toronto.


Attended same east-end Toronto high school (Malvern Collegiate) as famed concert pianist Glenn Gould. Father of camera-operator Kevin Jewison. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 479-483. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. Directed 12 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Alan Arkin, Rod Steiger, Topol, Leonard Frey, Al Pacino, Adolph Caesar, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly, Cher, Vincent Gardenia, Olympia Dukakis, and Denzel Washington. Steiger, Dukakis and Cher won Oscars for their performances in the films in which Jewison directed them. Member of the Jury for AFI Motion Pictures Awards 2005 He was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) on December 14, 1981 and the C.C. (Companion of the Order of Canada) on November 1, 1991 for his services to the film industry.