Akkad was born on July 1, 1930 in Aleppo, Syria. He was raised in Los Angeles, California. Akkad studied at Aleppo American College, at the University of California, Los Angeles and at the University of Southern California. He was married to Patricia Akkad until they divorced. Then he was to married Sasha Ascha until his death in 2005. He has two children with Patricia and one with Sasha.