# Basil Poledouris

Basil Konstantine Poledouris (/ˌpɒlɪˈdɔːrɪs/; August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with directors John Milius and Paul Verhoeven. Among his works are scores for the films Conan the Barbarian (1982), Red Dawn (1984), Iron Eagle (1986), RoboCop (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Free Willy (1993), Starship Troopers (1997) and Les Misérables (1998).
Poledouris won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special for his work on the four-part miniseries Lonesome Dove in 1989, and was a four-time recipient of the BMI Film Music Award.

## Life and career

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Greek immigrant parents from Messenia, 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. At the age of seven, Poledouris began piano lessons, and after graduation from Garden Grove High School, 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. 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' studio, "Blowtorch Flats", was located in Venice, California, and was 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.
In 1996, Poledouris composed "The Tradition of the Games" for the Atlanta Olympics opening ceremony that accompanied the memorable dance tribute to the athletes and goddesses of victory of the ancient Greek Olympics using silhouette imagery.
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 lung cancer.

## Awards and nominations

* 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

| Year | Title | Director | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 1970 | The Reversal of Richard Sun | John Milius | USC School of Cinematic Arts | Student film |
| 1973 | Hollywood 90028 | Christina Hornisher | Parker National Distribution | |
| 1973 | Extreme Close-Up | Jeannot Szwarc | General Cinema Corporation | |
| 1974 | Vrooom | Ken Rudolph | Pyramid Films | |
| 1977 | Tintorera | René Cardona Jr. | Hemdale Film Corporation United Film Distribution | |
| 1978 | Big Wednesday | John Milius | Warner Bros. | |
| 1980 | The Blue Lagoon | Randal Kleiser | Columbia Pictures | |
| 1982 | Conan the Barbarian | John Milius | De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Universal Pictures (North America) 20th Century Fox (International) | Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Music |
| 1982 | Summer Lovers | Randal Kleiser | Filmways Pictures | |
| 1984 | Making the Grade | Dorian Walker | Cannon Films | |
| 1984 | Conan the Destroyer | Richard Fleischer | De Laurentiis Entertainment Group Universal Pictures | |
| 1984 | Red Dawn | John Milius | United Artists Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
| 1984 | Protocol | Herbert Ross | Warner Bros. | |
| 1985 | Flesh & Blood | Paul Verhoeven | Orion Pictures | |
| 1986 | Iron Eagle | Sidney J. Furie | TriStar Pictures | |
| 1987 | RoboCop | Paul Verhoeven | Orion Pictures | Won: BMI Film Music Award |
| 1987 | No Man's Land | Peter Werner | Orion Pictures | |
| 1988 | Cherry 2000 | Steve De Jarnatt | Orion Pictures | |
| 1988 | Spellbinder | Janet Greek | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
| 1988 | Split Decisions | David Drury | New Century Entertainment | |
| 1989 | Wired | Larry Peerce | Taurus Entertainment | |
| 1989 | Farewell to the King | John Milius | Orion Pictures | |
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | John McTiernan | Paramount Pictures | Won: BMI Film Music Award |
| 1990 | Quigley Down Under | Simon Wincer | Pathé Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
| 1991 | Flight of the Intruder | John Milius | Paramount Pictures | |
| 1991 | White Fang | Randal Kleiser | Walt Disney Pictures | with Hans Zimmer |
| 1991 | Return to the Blue Lagoon | William A. Graham | Columbia Pictures | |
| 1991 | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | Simon Wincer | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | |
| 1992 | Wind | Carroll Ballard | TriStar Pictures | |
| 1993 | Hot Shots! Part Deux | Jim Abrahams | 20th Century Fox | |
| 1993 | Free Willy | Simon Wincer | Le Studio Canal+ Regency Enterprises Warner Bros. Family Entertainment | Won: BMI Film Music Award |
| 1993 | RoboCop 3 | Fred Dekker | Orion Pictures | |
| 1994 | On Deadly Ground | Steven Seagal | Warner Bros. | |
| 1994 | Serial Mom | John Waters | Savoy Pictures | |
| 1994 | Lassie | Daniel Petrie | Western Publishing Paramount Pictures | |
| 1994 | Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book | Stephen Sommers | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| 1995 | Under Siege 2: Dark Territory | Geoff Murphy | Regency Enterprises Warner Bros. | |
| 1995 | Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home | Dwight H. Little | Le Studio Canal+ Regency Enterprises Warner Bros. Family Entertainment | |
| 1996 | It's My Party | Randal Kleiser | United Artists | |
| 1996 | Celtic Pride | Tom DeCerchio | Caravan Pictures Hollywood Pictures | |
| 1996 | Amanda | Bobby Roth | | |
| 1996 | The War at Home | Emilio Estevez | Touchstone Pictures | |
| 1997 | Breakdown | Jonathan Mostow | Dino De Laurentiis Company Paramount Pictures | |
| 1997 | Switchback | Jeb Stuart | Rysher Entertainment Paramount Pictures | |
| 1997 | Starship Troopers | Paul Verhoeven | TriStar Pictures (North America) Touchstone Pictures (International) | |
| 1998 | Les Misérables | Bille August | Mandalay Entertainment Columbia Pictures | |
| 1999 | Mickey Blue Eyes | Kelly Makin | Castle Rock Entertainment Warner Bros. (US) Universal Pictures (UK) | |
| 1999 | Kimberly | Frederic Golchan | Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG Ardustry Home Entertainment | |
| 1999 | For Love of the Game | Sam Raimi | Renaissance Pictures Beacon Pictures Tig Productions Universal Pictures | |
| 2000 | Cecil B. Demented | John Waters | Le Studio Canal+ Artisan Entertainment | |
| 2001 | Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles | Simon Wincer | Paramount Pictures | |
| 2002 | The Touch | Peter Pau | Miramax Films | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Network(s) | Notes |
| 1971 | Congratulations, It's a Boy! | ABC | Television film |
| 1981 | A Whale for the Killing | ABC | Television film |
| 1981 | Fire on the Mountain | NBC | Television film |
| 1984 | Amazons | ABC | Television film |
| 1984 | Single Bars, Single Women | ABC | Television film |
| 1985 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | NBC | Pilot episode |
| 1985 | Misfits of Science | NBC | 2 episodes |
| 1985-86 | The Twilight Zone | CBS | 3 episodes |
| 1987 | Prison for Children | CBS | Television film |
| 1987 | Amerika | ABC | Miniseries; 7 episodes |
| 1988 | Intrigue | CBS | Television film |
| 1989 | Lonesome Dove | CBS | Miniseries; 4 episodes Won: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special |
| 1989-90 | Nasty Boys | NBC | 13 episodes |
| 1992 | Ned Blessing: The True Story of My Life | CBS | Television film |
| 2000 | If These Walls Could Talk 2 | HBO | Television film |
| 2001 | Love and Treason | CBS | Television film |
| 2004 | The Legend of Butch & Sundance | NBC | Television film |

### Other works

* 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games (Opening Ceremony)
* Conan Sword & Sorcery Spectacular (Universal Studios' live stage show)
* American Journeys (A Circle-Vision 360° film at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom)
* Flyers (IMAX, 1982)
* Behold Hawaii (IMAX, 1983)