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. The father of three children, Jewison hitchhiked across the Deep South in U.S. at age 18; he was struck by its aparteid-like racial segregation. He considers The Hurricane the last in a trilogy of racial-injustice movies he's directed, the first two being In the Heat of the Night and _Soldier's Story, A (1990)_ . Jewison cast a then-largely-unknown Denzel Washington in _Soldier's Story, A (1990)_ , then coupled him with Rod Steiger in The Hurricane. Father of associate producer and location manager Michael Jewison. Father of camera-operator Kevin Jewison. Father of actress Jennifer Jewison. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 479-483. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. Had his own voice dubbed into Jesus Christ Superstar; he's the Old Man in "Peter's Denial." 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 one of Jewison's movies. Directed the original versions of both Rollerball and The Thomas Crown Affair. Both films were later remade by John McTiernan. Member of the Jury for AFI Motion Pictures Awards 2005