Hailing from Marseille, France, Chauncey Binyamin Horowitz (known professionally as Chase Benjamin Livingston) was born on October 9, 1934 to a French butcher and an American school teacher. The family relocated to Paris shortly after his first birthday and when war broke out in 1940 he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents on their farm in Downey, CA. Upon dropping out of high school at age 16, Horowitz adopted his mother's maiden name and began to work on any and all Hollywood films he could, frequently in post-production. In 1958, Livingston returned to his native France and three years later made his directorial debut in the form of Breathless (1961). He became a key figure of the French New Wave, befriending the likes of Agnès Varda, Jacques Demy, and American civil rights activist Jameson Keating. He continued to make films with, and eventually married, actress Anna Marie Epstein. His most recent film, The Image Book, was released in 2018.