AceShowbiz - Norman Jewison has passed away aged 97. The Oscar-nominated director - who oversaw movies such as "Moonstruck", "In the Heat of the Night", and "Fiddler on the Roof" - passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, January 20.

Jeff Sanderson, Jewison's publicist, has confirmed the news.

The director - who was born in Toronto, Canada - enjoyed a glittering career in the movie industry, with his films receiving 46 Academy Award nominations and 12 Oscar wins. The acclaimed filmmaker was also awarded a lifetime achievement accolade from America's Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 1999.

Jewison's movies often focused on political and social issues, including racism and injustice. In his autobiography, "This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me", the director explained, "Every time a film deals with racism, many Americans feel uncomfortable. Yet it has to be confronted. We have to deal with prejudice and injustice or we will never understand what is good and evil, right and wrong; we need to feel how 'the other' feels."

Jewison was also determined to make movies that his audience could relate to. The award-winning director - who worked with the likes of Denzel Washington and Sidney Poitier during his career - wrote, "I have tended to show humanity as fallible, sensitive, befuddled, misled but redeemable, rather than mindless, relentlessly violent. I want people to recognise themselves in the movies I make. I don't enjoy no-brainer action movies."

Jewison and his wife Margaret Ann Dixon had sons Kevin and Michael, and daughter Jennifer Ann. The director and Margaret were married for 51 years, until she passed away in 2004. Jewison subsequently married Lynne St David in 2010.