Basil Poledouris
Born: 21 August 1945, Kansas City, Missouri.
Died: 6 November 2006.
Biography:
Composer Basil Poledouris was born in Missouri, the son of Greek immigrants, and was a talented child pianist. Originally Poledouris intended to embark a career as a concert pianist, before being bitten by the cinema bug. He studied at the famous USC Film School in Los Angeles, where his classmates included directors George Lucas, Randal Kleiser and John Milius, and screenwriter Matthew Robbins. Poledouris also learnt the arts of acting, directing, cinematography, editing and sound, making him an extremely well-rounded member of the cinema community. His first experience actually came as an actor – he played a Klingon in an episode of “Star Trek” in 1966 – but he quickly realized his first love was music. After writing music for a number of short and student films in the 1970s, Poledouris first came to prominence in 1978 when he scored the surfing drama “Big Wednesday” for his old friend Milius. His extensive credits since then included box office successes such “The Blue Lagoon” (1980), “Conan the Barbarian” (1981), “Red Dawn” (1984), the epic 14-hour mini series “Amerika” (1987), “Robocop” (1987), “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), “Free Willy” (1993), “Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book” (1994), “Under Siege 2” (1995), “Breakdown” (1997) and “Starship Troopers” (1997), as well as fan favorites such as “Farewell to the King” (1989), “Quigley Down Under” (1991), “Les Misérables” (1998) and “Wind” (1992), the latter of which celebrated his well known personal passion for sailing. Among his regular collaborators were directors Paul Verhoeven, Simon Wincer, John Milius, John Waters and Randal Kleiser, the late great orchestrator Grieg McRitchie, former protégé Christopher Lennertz and long-time engineer, Tim Boyle. Poledouris died on 6 November 2006 after a short battle with cancer, at the age of 61. He left a wife, Bobbie, and two daughters, one of whom, Zoë, is following her father's footsteps as a composer and singer/songwriter. Click Here to read Poledouris's obituary.
Reviews:
Amanda, Amerika, Big Wednesday, The Blue Lagoon, Breakdown, Cherry 2000, Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, Farewell to the King, Fire on the Mountain, Flesh + Blood, Flight of the Intruder, Flyers, For Love of the Game, Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Hot Shots! Part Deux, The Hunt for Red October, It's My Party, Kimberly, Lassie, Les Misérables, Lonesome Dove, Mickey Blue Eyes, On Deadly Ground , Quigley Down Under, Robocop, Robocop 3, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Serial Mom, Starship Troopers, Switchback, The Touch, Under Siege 2, The War at Home, A Whale for the Killing, White Fang, Wind and Wired.
Filmography:
Bunyan and Babe (2007), The Legend of Butch and Sundance (2004), The Touch (2002), Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001), Love and Treason (2001), Cecil B. Demented (2000), If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), For Love of the Game (1999), Kimberly (1999), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), Les Misérables (1998), Breakdown (1997), Starship Troopers (1997), Switchback (1997), Amanda (1996), Celtic Pride (1996), The War at Home (1996), Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995), It's My Party (1995), Under Siege 2 (1995), Zoya (1995), Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994), Lassie (1994), On Deadly Ground (1994), Serial Mom (1994), Return to Lonesome Dove (1993), Free Willy (1993), Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), Robocop 3 (1993), Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life (1992), Wind (1992), Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Quigley Down Under (1991), Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991), White Fang (1991), Flight of the Intruder (1990), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Lonesome Dove (1989), Farewell to the King (1989), L.A. Takedown (1989), Nasty Boys (1989), Wired (1989), Intrigue (1988), Spellbinder (1988), Split Decisions (1988), Amerika (1987), Cherry 2000 (1987), Island Sons (1987) , No Man's Land (1987), Prison for Children (1987), Robocop (1987), Iron Eagle (1986), Misfits of Science (1986), Flesh & Blood (1985), 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 (1984), Flyers (1983), Behold Hawaii (1982), Summer Lovers (1982), Conan the Barbarian (1981), Fire on the Mountain (1981), A Whale for the Killing (1981), The Blue Lagoon (1980), The House of God (1980), 90028 (1979), Dolphin (1979), Big Wednesday (1978), Tintorera (1977), Three for the Road (1974), Extreme Close-Up (1973), By Map and Compass (1972), Congratulations, It's a Boy! (1971), The Interview (1970).
Highest Grossing Films (adjusted for inflation):
The Hunt for Red October ($204.2m), The Blue Lagoon ($154.9m), Free Willy ($138.8m), Robocop ($96.7m), Conan the Barbarian ($95.3m), Starship Troopers ($84.6m), Under Siege 2 ($81.4m), Red Dawn ($80.9m), Breakdown ($77.4m), Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book ($73.2m).
Awards:
1989 Emmy Awards – Winner, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini–Series, Movie, or Special – Lonesome Dove
Links:
Official Site
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