Biography
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).
Filmography
all 51
Movies 47
self 12
Screenplay 9
Writer 9
TV Shows 4
Director 4
Producer 1
Narrator 1
Salinger (2013)
Welcome to the Basement (2012)
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
Ask the Dust (2006)
Suspect Zero (2004)
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004)
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Playing the Field: Sports and Sex in America (2000)
Without Limits (1998)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Love Affair (1994)
The Firm (1993)
The Two Jakes (1990)
Days of Thunder (1990)
Tequila Sunrise (1988)
Frantic (1988)
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987)
The Bedroom Window (1987)
8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
Deal of the Century (1983)
Personal Best (1982)
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Shampoo (1975)
The Yakuza (1974)
The Parallax View (1974)
The Last Detail (1973)
The New Centurions (1972)
Cisco Pike (1972)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Drive, He Said (1971)
The Zodiac Killer (1971)
Villa Rides (1968)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)
Last Woman on Earth (1960)
Battle of Britain
Information
Known ForWriting
GenderMale
Birthday1934-11-23
Deathday2024-07-01 (89 years old)
Birth NameRobert Bertram Schwartz
Birth PlaceLos Angeles, United States
RelationshipsJulie Payne (1977 - 1982)
CitizenshipsUnited States
Also Known AsP. H. Vasak, Роберт Таун
AwardsEdgar Awards, Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay
This article uses material from Wikipedia.
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