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Robert Towne

Nov 23, 1934 - Jul 01, 2024 (89 years old) in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

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).

Known For

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The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Self
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Shampoo
Party Guest (uncredited)
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Last Woman on Earth
Martin Joyce
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The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
Agent XK150 (archive footage)
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Suspect Zero
Professor Dates (uncredited)
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You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story
Self
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The Pick-up Artist
Stan
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Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature
Self - Screenwriter, 'Chinatown'
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Drive, He Said
Richard
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Creature from the Haunted Sea
Sparks Moran / Agent XK150 / Narrator

Credits