Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Basil Poledouris credited two influences with guiding him towards music: the first was composer Miklós Rózsa, the second was his Greek Orthodox heritage. Poledouris was raised in the church, and used to sit in services, enthralled with the choir's sound. At age 7 he began piano lessons, and eventually enrolled at the University of Southern California to study both film and music. Several short films to which he contributed still reside in the university's archives. At USC he met directors John Milius and Randal Kleiser, with both of whom the composer would later collaborate. In 1985, he scored Flesh & Blood for director Paul Verhoeven, again establishing another collaboration that would yield more cooperations in later years.
Poledouris became renowned for his powerfully epic style of orchestral composition and his intricate thematic designs, and garnered attention for his scores to The Blue Lagoon (1980; dir: Kleiser), Conan the Barbarian (1982; dir: Milius), Conan the Destroyer (1984), Red Dawn (1984; dir: Milius), RoboCop (1987; dir: Verhoeven), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Free Willy (1993) and Free Willy 2, Starship Troopers (1997; dir: Verhoeven) and For Love of the Game (1999).
His studio, Blowtorch Flats, is located in Venice, CA and is a professional mixing facility specializing in film and media production.
Poledouris married his wife, Bobbie, in 1969 and had two daughters, Zoë and Alexis. The elder, Zoë Poledouris, is an actress and film composer who occasionally collaborated with her father composing film soundtracks.
His score for Conan The Barbarian is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of motion picture scoring ever written and by me as the greatest film score ever written.
He spent the last four years of his life living on Vashon Island, in Washington state, and died on November 8, 2006 in Los Angeles, California, aged 61, due to complications from cancer.
FILMOGRAPHY
1966 The Reversal of Richard Sun
1970 The Interview
1971 Congratulations, It's A Boy!
1972 By Map and Compass
1973 Extreme Close-Up
1974 Three for the Road
1977 The Andros Targets [TV Series]
1977 Tintorera - The Silent Death
1978 Big Wednesday
1979 90028
1979 Dolphin
1980 The Blue Lagoon
1980 Defiance
1981 Fire on the Mountain [TV Movie]
1981 The House of God (H.O.G.)
1981 A Whale For The Killing
1982 Conan The Barbarian
1982 Summer Lovers
1983 Flyers
1984 Amazons
1984 American Journeys
1984 Conan The Destroyer
1984 The House of God
1984 Making The Grade
1984 Protocol
1984 Red Dawn
1984 Single Bars, Single Women
1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents [TV Series]
1985 Flesh+Blood
1985 Misfits Of Science
1985 Prison for Children
1985 The Twilight Zone [TV Series]
1986 Iron Eagle
1987 Amerika [Miniseries]
1987 Cherry 2000
1987 Island Sons
1987 No Man's Land
1987 RoboCop
1988 Intrigue
1988 Spellbinder (Witching Hour)
1988 Split Decisions
1989 Farewell to the King
1989 L.A. Takedown
1989 Lonesome Dove
1989 Why Me?
1989 Wired
1990 The Hunt For Red October
1990 Nasty Boys [TV Series]
1990 Quigley Down Under
1991 Flight Of The Intruder
1991 Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man
1991 Return To The Blue Lagoon
1991 White Fang
1992 Ned Blessing
1992 Wind
1993 Free Willy
1993 Hot Shots! Part Deux
1993 RoboCop 3
1994 The Jungle Book
1994 Lassie
1994 On Deadly Ground
1994 RoboCop: The Series [TV Series]
1994 Serial Mom
1995 Danielle Steel's Zoya [TV Movie] (themes)
1995 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home
1995 Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
1996 Amanda
1996 Celtic Pride
1996 It's My Party
1996 The War at Home
1997 Breakdown
1997 Starship Troopers
1997 Switchback
1998 Les Miserables
1999 For Love of the Game
1999 Kimberly
1999 Mickey Blue Eyes
2000 Cecil B. Demented (co-composer)
2000 If These Walls Could Talk 2
2001 Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
2001 Love and Treason [TV Movie]
2002 The Touch
2005 The Legend of Butch and Sundance [TV Movie] *
* just released on Movie Score Media (limited edition)
NOMINATIONS
1983 Saturn Award Best Music for Conan The Barbarian (1982)
AWARDS
1988 BMI Film Music Award for RoboCop (1987)
1989 Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) for Lonesome Dove (1989) (mini)
1990 BMI TV Music Award for Lonesome Dove (1989) (mini)
1991 BMI Film Music Award for The Hunt for Red October (1990)
1994 BMI Film Music Award for Free Willy (1993)
1997 Special Recognition, shared with: John Williams, Stephen James Taylor, Michael Kamen, Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, David Foster, Linda Thompson "The Olympic Tribute Award".
2006 GoldSpirit Award from BSOSpirit
VIDEOS
JOHN FRIZZELL introducing MAESTRO POLEDOURIS IN UBEDA
Finale from WHITE FANG (1991. Dir. Randal Kleiser)
Battle scene from FLESH + BLOOD (1985. Dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Shoot 'em up scene from HOT SHOTS PART DEUX (1993. Dir. Jim Abrahams)
Klendathu Drop scene from STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997. Dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Fan-assembled clips from CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982. Dir. John Milius)
Note about the featured mp3's
- unless otherwise stated all mp3's are taken from officially released and commercially available releases, so I heartly encourage you to look for these cd's and buy the originals.
- most of the audio samples present on this page are just a clip from the actual track
- the playlist is changed frquently, so you can enjoy more of Maestro Poledouris' wonderful music.
NEWS August 2009 - LIVE IN CONCERT AT UBEDA FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL (DVDSING001)
a unique document made from the heart and to the heart of film music lovers all over the world, including the only concert Basil Poledouris conducted in his life, a few months before his passing.
Contents:
- CONAN THE SYMPHONY (almost 50 espectacular minutes of the “Conan the Barbarian” score, with Basil Poledouris conducting the Andalucía Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. Remixed and remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1)
- REMEMBERING BASIL (A 40 minutes documentary directed by Dan Goldwasser where friends and personalities like Paul Verhoeven, Randal Kleiser, Zoe Poledouris, Richard Kraft, Eric Colvin or Jon Burlingame remember Basil, his music and his legacy.)
- THE TALE OF CONAN (including the conversation by Poledouris in Ubeda International Film Music Festival where he speaks about his relation with John Millius and how they came to create the score of “Conan the Barbarian”. Includes images of the rehearsals of him conducting the orchestra before the concert.
- BASIL AT UBEDA A moving document on the days Basil spent at Úbeda surrounded by friends and fans.
- AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BASIL POLEDOURIS.
Almost 120 minutes of a unique document in DVD REGION 0 (worldwide), PAL Video, in English language with Spanish subtitles. Limited edition of 1.200 copies contact singularsoundtrack@gmail.com
27 March 2008 - Various Basil photo uploaded to the photos section. My deepest appreciations to Zoe Poledouris for her help.
25 March 2008 - Uploaded a suite from the The Legend of Butch And Sundance cd , enjoy!
27 February 2008 - Basil's final score The Legend of Butch And Sundance cd released in a limited edition of 1500 copies. I urge you to buy it now before it is too late.
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