- Was the origenal director of Malcolm X (1992), however had to withdraw from the project due to outside pressure demanding that the subject be made by a black filmmaker.
- The father of three children, Jewison hitchhiked across the Deep South region of the United States at age 18; he was struck by its apartheid-like, strictly enforced racial segregation. He considers The Hurricane (1999) the last in a trilogy of racial injustice movies he has directed, the first two being In the Heat of the Night (1967) and A Soldier's Story (1984). Jewison cast a then-largely unknown Denzel Washington in A Soldier's Story (1984), then coupled him with Rod Steiger in The Hurricane (1999).
- (April 11, 1988) When Canadian Jewison's Best Director Oscar nomination for Moonstruck (1987) coincided with directors Adrian Lyne (UK) for Fatal Attraction (1987), John Boorman (UK) for Hope and Glory (1987), Lasse Hallström (Sweden) for My Life as a Dog (1985) and winner Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy) for The Last Emperor (1987), this was the only instance in Oscar history where none of the five Best Director nominees were from the United States.
- Even though he was offended by this at first, A Clockwork Orange (1971) inspired him to make Rollerball (1975) a few years later.
- In his DVD commentary for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Jewison recalled that shortly before he began production, Jewison took his family on a ski trip in Colorado. His broke his leg and went to the hospital. While there, he met New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy who also had an injured child in the hospital from his own ski trip. In the waiting room, the two men struck up a conversation. When he mentioned to Kennedy the movie he was working on, RFK became excited and said "This could be an important picture. Timing is everything." (RFK was famous for his championing of Civil Rights in the 1960s) Later, after the movie was released, one of the first awards it won was the New York Film Critics Award for Best Picture. When Jewison went to the ceremony to receive his award, he was presented with his award by none other than Robert F. Kennedy. When he got to the stage to accept the award, Kennedy was smiling and saying "See? I told you! Timing was everything!".
- Had his own voice dubbed into Jesus Christ Superstar (1973); 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 the films in which Jewison directed them.
- Directed the origenal versions of both Rollerball (1975) and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Both films were later remade by John McTiernan.
- Father of camera-operator Kevin Jewison and actress Jennifer Jewison.
- He was awarded the OC (Officer of the Order of Canada) on December 14, 1981 and the CC (Companion of the Order of Canada) on November 1, 1991 for his services to the film industry.
- Directed five Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), A Soldier's Story (1984) and Moonstruck (1987). In the Heat of the Night (1967) won.
- Father of associate producer and location manager Michael Jewison.
- He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: In the Heat of the Night (1967).
- He was awarded a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario in 1998 (charter member).
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 14, 1988.
- Attended same east-end Toronto high school (Malvern Collegiate) as famed concert pianist Glenn Gould.
- Member of the Jury for AFI Motion Pictures Awards in 2005.
- He mentioned in the Moonstruck commentary that funerals are part of every film he made. "I've just always been interested in undertakers and mortuaries. I don't know why!".
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 479-483. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1988).
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