The famous Canadian director, whose films ranged from Doris Day comedies to social dramas, died at the age of 97.

Publicist Jeff Sanderson confirmed to CBC News that Joyson passed away "peacefully" on Saturday, without providing further details.

The multiple Oscar nominee and Toronto native was known for provoking controversy with his introspective films, addressing civil rights and religion issues in works such as In the Heat of the Night, the film Fiddler on the Roof, and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Joyson said, "I tend to show humanity as fallible, sensitive, confusing, misleading but redeemable, not reckless, and relentlessly violent," as he wrote in his 2004 autobiography titled The Industry, "This awful work was good for me."

"I want people to recognize themselves in the films I make; I do not enjoy simple action movies."

The films tackled racial issues

Joyson directed and produced more than 40 films and TV shows during his career, including the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair, The Cincinnati Kid, A Soldier's Story, Moonstruck, and The Hurricane. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Jesus Christ Superstar.

He became particularly fascinated with documenting racial injustice in films when he traveled across the southern United States after leaving the army, witnessing the public segregation between white and black cultures.

He told attendees at a Toronto event in February 2010 about the Black experience: "I could not understand why a country would ask young people to go fight and die for America, and then when they return home they have to sit at the back of the bus."

This remarkable journey inspired many of Joyson’s most famous films, notably the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night, which tells of two police officers trying to solve a murder while dealing with their personal biases toward each other, and the film became famous, among other things, for showing an African American man slapping a Caucasian on screen.