Dassin was born in New York City to American film director Jules Dassin (1911-2008) and Béatrice Launer (1913-1994),[REF] a New York-born violinist, who after graduating from a Hebrew High School in the Bronx studied with the British violinist Harold Berkely at the Juilliard School of Music [REF].
He began his childhood first in New York City and Los Angeles.