Rififi (1955) is widely considered the prototype for films such as Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Mission: Impossible (1996). Dassin himself made another film based on "Rififi," his 1964's Topkapi (1964).
Became an assistant to Alfred Hitchcock in 1940.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 190-195. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
Directed two actors to Oscar nominations: Melina Mercouri (Best Actress, Never on Sunday (1960)), and Peter Ustinov (Best Supporting Actor, Topkapi (1964)). Ustinov won an Oscar for his performance.
Father of Julie Dassin.
Has at least two daughters and one son.
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.
His son, Joseph Dassin (1938-1980), became one of France's most popular singers, with hits such as "Bip Bip", "L'Eté Indien" and "Aux Champs-Èlysées.".
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).
Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979.
Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.
Named as a communist before the House Un-American Activities Committee by fellow directors Edward Dmytryk Frank 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.