Daily Archives: April 6, 2008

Filmmaker Jules Dassin, 96, Dies

The great American-born director (and actor and screenwriter) Jules Dassin died recently at 96, in Greece, his adopted homeland. Dassin left the US under the cloud of the black list due to his time in the Communist Party in the 30s (he left long before many others when Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1939). Dassin later married his leading lady Melina Mercouri, a Greek socialist who became the country’s Culture Minister. After her death in 1994 he continued her long time effort to see the Elgin Marbles returned to Greece.

Filmmaker Jules Dassin, 96, Dies : NPR