
Robert Towne
Writing
- Born
- November 23, 1934 · San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Died
- July 1, 2024 (age 89)
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).
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Known for
Behind the camera34
- 2028Days of Thunder 2 Characters
- 2006Ask the Dust Screenplay, Director
- 2000Mission: Impossible II Screenplay
- 1998Without Limits Director, Writer
- 1996Mission: Impossible Screenplay
- 1994Love Affair Screenplay
- 1993The Firm Screenplay
- 1990The Two Jakes Writer, Characters
- 1990Days of Thunder Screenplay, Story
- 1989Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland












