Jules Dassin was an Academy Award-nominated director, screenwriter and actor best known for his films Rififi (1955), Never on Sunday (1960), and Topkapi (1964). He was born Julius Samuel Dassin on 18 December 1911, in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He was one of eight children of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Samuel Dassin and Berthe Vogel. Young ...
If there is anything I want to be remembered for, it is for fulfilling Melina's dream [the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece]. (from a 1997 interview)
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The tragedy of Hollywood is that for over a quarter of a century it was harried by these two illiterate, vindictive women. - commenting on Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons
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Louis B. Mayer's arm around your shoulder meant his hand was closer to your throat.
His film Rififi (1955) was called "the benchmark all succeeding heist films have been measured against," by the LA film critic Kenneth Turan when the film was re-released in 2000.
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Rififi (1955) is widely considered the prototype for films such as Ocean's 11 (1960) and Mission: Impossible (1996). Dassin himself made another film based on "Rififi," his 1964's Topkapi (1964).
Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.
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Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979.
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In 1968, was nominated for two Tony Awards: as Best Director (Musical) and as author of the book of Best Musical nominee "Ilya, Darling," a musical version of his film Never on Sunday (1960).
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 190-195. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
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His son, Joe Dassin (1938-1980), became one of France's most popular singers, with hits such as "Bip Bip", "L'Eté Indien" and "Aux Champs-Èlysées.".
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Named as a communist before the House Un-American Activities Committee by fellow directors Edward DmytrykFrank Tuttle in 1952. This caused Dassin, who had quit the Communist Party in 1939 after a brief membership, to be blacklisted and forced him to move to France where he became more famous and successful than he ever was in the United States.
$600,000
