Norman Jewison was a Canadian icon. His sons alleged his wife cut off contact, coerced him to change his will [Video]

In his four-decade Hollywood career, Oscar-nominated director Norman Jewison crafted acclaimed dramas like In the Heat of the Night and A Soldier’s Story. Behind the scenes, there was allegedly drama in the Toronto-born filmmaker’s personal life as well in his final years.

Lawsuits filed in California and Ontario by Jewison’s sons and recently obtained by CBC News raise issues that experts say are all too common when family members clash at the end of a loved one’s life. 

In the court filings, Jewison’s sons alleged that his second wife, Lynne St. David Jewison, progressively cut him off from friends and family starting as early as 2010, even taking over his email and phone. 

“It is the culmination of Respondent’s progressive isolation and control of Mr. Jewison that, alongside the replacement of his longtime financial and legal advisers and uncharacteristic changes to his estate plan, are telltale signs of elder abuse,” said the pair of lawsuits filed in May 2023 …