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Dean Tavoularis

Art

Biography

Dean Tavoularis (May 18, 1932 — April 22, 2026) was an American motion picture production designer whose work appeared in numerous box office hits such as The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Brink's Job, One from the Heart and Bonnie and Clyde. Although born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrant parents, Tavoularis spent his entire childhood and teenage years in Los Angeles, in the shadow of the Hollywood studios. He studied architecture and painting at different art schools and landed a job at the Disney Studios first as an in-betweener in the animation department, and later as a storyboard artist. In 1967, Arthur Penn called him to take charge of the artistic direction of Bonnie and Clyde. Three years later, Penn called him once again to design Little Big Man. But it was working with Francis Ford Coppola in 1972 on The Godfather that set the creative tone of his career. The Godfather Part II and The Conversation, in 1974, consolidated their collaboration, and laid the way for what was to be their joint creative challenge: Apocalypse Now, the film for which Tavoularis created a nightmare jungle kingdom, inspired by Angkor Wat. It was also on the set of Apocalypse Now that he met his future wife, French actress Aurore Clément. (Clément's role was eventually edited out of the final cut of the film, and only restored in the Apocalypse Now Redux version in 2001. From 1967 until 2001, he worked on over 30 films and landed five Academy Award nominations for Art Direction, one of which he won for The Godfather Part II. For the 1982 release One from the Heart he recreated both the Las Vegas 'strip' and McCarran International Airport on the sound stages of Zoetrope Studios. The list of directors with whom he has worked includes: Michelangelo Antonioni (Zabriskie Point, 1970), Wim Wenders (Hammett, 1982), Warren Beatty (Bulworth, 1998) and Roman Polanski (The Ninth Gate, 1999). Tavoularis died on April 22, 2026 in a Paris hospital of natural causes. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dean Tavoularis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography Movies

Acting

MOVIE

Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'

4.6(0.0K)

The making-of documentary of Bonnie and Clyde.

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Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'

Self

MOVIE

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

7.9(0.4K)

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

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Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

Self

MOVIE

CQ

5.9(0.1K)

A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.

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Man at Screening (uncredited)

Pina ColadaMOVIE

MOVIE

Pina Colada

Romantic comedy

Production

MOVIE

Apocalypse Now

8.3(9.1K)

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

Rumble Fish

7.0(0.8K)

Absent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.

The Godfather Part II

8.6(13.9K)

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

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The Godfather Part II

Production Design

MOVIE

The Outsiders

7.2(1.6K)

In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival and redemption exposes the fragile innocence and enduring bonds of youth on the wrong side of town.

The Godfather Part III

7.4(6.9K)

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

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The Godfather Part III

Production Design

MOVIE

Bonnie and Clyde

7.5(1.8K)

In the 1930s, bored European-American waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with a European-American ex-con named Clyde Barrow and together they start a violent crime spree through the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

The Conversation

7.5(2.0K)

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

The Ninth Gate

6.5(3.4K)

A rare book dealer finds himself at the heart of a string of paranormal events when he is hired to find the last two copies of a text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, capable of summoning the Devil.

Zabriskie Point

7.0(0.4K)

Anthropology student Daria, who's helping a property developer build a village in the Los Angeles desert, and dropout Mark, who's wanted by the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot, accidentally encounter each other in Death Valley and soon begin an unrestrained romance.

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Zabriskie Point

Production Design