CineScope
Robert Towne picture

Robert Towne

Writing
Known For

89 Years Old

Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 - July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), which is widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written. He later said it was inspired by a chapter in Carey McWilliams's Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946) and a West magazine article on Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles. Towne also wrote the sequel, The Two Jakes (1990); the Hal Ashby comedy-dramas The Last Detail (1973) and Shampoo (1975); and the first two Mission: Impossible films. Towne directed the sports dramas Personal Best (1982) and Without Limits (1998), the crime thriller Tequila Sunrise (1988), and the romantic crime drama Ask the Dust (2006). Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Towne, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Born

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA on 23rd November 1934

Died

1st July 2024

All Credits

The Story of Film: An Odyssey Image
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Self
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made Image
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
Agent XK150 (archive footage)
Shampoo Image
Shampoo
Party Guest (uncredited)
Suspect Zero Image
Suspect Zero
Professor Dates (uncredited)
Last Woman on Earth Image
Last Woman on Earth
Martin Joyce
Salinger Image
Salinger
Self - Screenwriter
The Pick-up Artist Image
The Pick-up Artist
Stan
Creature from the Haunted Sea Image
Creature from the Haunted Sea
Sparks Moran / Agent XK150 / Narrator
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story Image
You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
Self
No Image
Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
Self (uncredited)
Rescued from the Closet Image
Rescued from the Closet
Self
A Decade Under the Influence Image
A Decade Under the Influence
Self
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy Image
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
Self
The Zodiac Killer Image
The Zodiac Killer
Man in Bar #3
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael Image
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
Self
Drive, He Said Image
Drive, He Said
Richard
Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That Image
Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That
Self
Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde' Image
Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
Self
Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature Image
Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature
Self - Screenwriter, 'Chinatown'
A Sad Flower in the Sand Image
A Sad Flower in the Sand
Self