Basil Poledouris
Basil Konstantine Poledouris | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 21, 1945 Kansas City, Missouri, USA |
| Died | November 8, 2006 (aged 61) Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Genres | Film score |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, conductor |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, orchestra |
| Years active | 1970–2003 |
| Website | http://www.basil-poledouris.com/ |
Basil Konstantine Poledouris[1] (August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American music composer who concentrated on the scores for films and television shows. Poledouris won the Emmy Award for Best Musical Score for work on part four of the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove in 1989. He is best known for scores such as Conan the Barbarian (1982), RoboCop (1987), Spellbinder (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), RoboCop 3 and Starship Troopers (1997).
Life and career
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he credited two influences with guiding him towards music: the first was composer Miklós Rózsa; the second his own Greek Orthodox heritage. Poledouris was raised in the Church, and he used to sit in services enthralled by the choir's sound.[2] At the age of seven, Poledouris began piano lessons, and after high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Southern California to study both filmmaking and music. Several short films to which he contributed are still kept in the university's archives. At USC, Poledouris met movie directors John Milius and Randal Kleiser, with whom he would later collaborate as a music composer. He appeared as a background extra in several episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series.[3] In 1985, Poledouris wrote the music for Paul Verhoeven's Flesh & Blood, establishing a durable collaboration.
Poledouris became renowned for his powerfully epic style of orchestral composition and his intricate thematic designs. He scored the soundtrack for The Blue Lagoon (1980; dir: Kleiser); Conan the Barbarian (1982; dir: Milius); Conan the Destroyer (1984); Red Dawn (1984; dir: Milius), Iron Eagle (1986); RoboCop (1987; dir: Verhoeven); The Hunt for Red October (1990); Quigley Down Under (1990 Simon Wincer); Free Willy (1993) and its first sequel Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995); Starship Troopers (1997; dir: Verhoeven); and For Love of the Game (1999).
Poledouris's studio, "Blowtorch Flats", is located in Venice, California, and is a professional mixing facility specializing in film and media production.
Poledouris married his wife Bobbie in 1969; they had two daughters, Zoë and Alexis. His elder daughter, Zoë Poledouris, is an actress and film composer, who occasionally collaborated with her father in composing film soundtracks.
Poledouris's score for Conan the Barbarian is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of motion picture scoring ever written.[4][5][6]
In 1996, Poledouris composed the "The Tradition of the Games"[7] for the Atlanta Olympics opening ceremony that accompanied the memorable dance tribute[8] to the athletes and goddesses of victory of the ancient Greek Olympics using silhouette imagery.[9]
Poledouris spent the last four years of his life residing on Vashon Island, in Washington State. He died on November 8, 2006, in Los Angeles, California, aged 61, from cancer.[10]
Awards
- Winner Best Score for Miniseries – Emmy Awards (Lonesome Dove)
- Nominee Best Score – Saturn Awards (Conan the Barbarian)
- Winner Special Recognition Music Award – BMI Film & TV Awards (Olympic Tribute for "The Tradition of the Games")
- Winner Film Music Award – BMI Awards (Free Willy)
- Winner Film Music Award – BMI Awards (The Hunt for Red October)
- Winner TV Music Award – BMI Awards (Lonesome Dove)
- Winner Film Music Award – BMI Awards (RoboCop)
Filmography
Films
Mini-series
- Amerika (14-hour mini-series) (1987)
- Lonesome Dove (8-hour mini-series) (1989) (Emmy Award Winner for Best Score)
- Zoya (4-hour mini-series) (theme) (1995)
Television
- Congratulations, It's a Boy (1971)
- Three for the Road (1974)
- Dolphin (1979)
- A Whale for the Killing (1981)
- Fire on the Mountain (1981)
- Amazons (1984)
- Single Women, Single Bars (1984)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (pilot) (1985)
- Misfits of Science (pilot) (1986)
- The Twilight Zone: "Profile in Silver" (1986)
- The Twilight Zone: "Monsters" (1986)
- The Twilight Zone: "A Message from Charity" (1986)
- Prison for Children (1987)
- Island Sons (pilot) (1987)
- Intrigue (pilot) (1988)
- L.A. Takedown (pilot) (1989)
- Nasty Boys (pilot) (1989)
- Nasty Boys: "Lone Justice" (1990)
- Life & Times of Ned Blessing (pilot) (1991)
- If These Walls Could Talk II (2000)
- Love and Treason (2001)
Other works
- 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games (Opening Ceremony)[7]
- Conan Sword & Sorcery Spectacular (Universal Studios' live stage show)
- American Journeys (A Circle-Vision 360° film at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom)
- Flyers (IMAX)
- Behold Hawaii (IMAX)
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006231/
- ^ Rhodes, S. Mark. "A Sprig of Basil: The Musical Mastery of Basil Poledouris." Film Score Monthly, Volume 9, Number 4, 2004.
- ^ "Basil Poledouris". Memory Alpha. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- ^ Corn, Adam. "Conan the Barbarian: An Epitomal Fantasy-Adventure Soundtrack." Soundtrack Central, 1999.
- ^ Southall, James. "Conan the Barbarian: Epic Masterpiece is One of the Finest Fantasy Scores to Date." Movie Wave, 27 December 2006.
- ^ Broxton, Jonathan. "Conan the Barbarian." Movie Music UK, 1998.
- ^ a b Basil Poledouris. "1996 Olympics Opening Ceremony – Honor and Glory CD Audio". Basil Poledouris website. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ "Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games opening ceremony via Youtube (video)". CBC TV via YouTube. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
- ^ "Basil Poledouris Biography". Basil Poledouris website. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Basil Poledouris 1945 – 2006." Basil Poledouris Message Board, 8 November 2006.
External links
- Official website
- Basil Poledouris at IMDb
- Basil Poledouris interview at UnderScores : Musique de Film
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1945 births
- 2006 deaths
- People from Kansas City, Missouri
- Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States
- American people of Greek descent
- 20th-century classical composers
- American male classical composers
- American classical composers
- American film score composers
- Male film score composers
- California State University, Long Beach alumni
- Musicians from Los Angeles, California
- Thornton School of Music alumni
- Cancer deaths in California
- 20th-century American musicians