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Photo of Robert Towne

Robert Towne

Writer, Producer, Director, Actor, Additional Credits
Born November 23, 1934Died July 1, 2024 (89 years)
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.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Mad Men
  • The Outer Limits
  • Deal of the Century
  • Creature from the Haunted Sea
  • Last Woman on Earth
  • The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
  • The Zodiac Killer

Known For

  • Chinatown
  • Mission: Impossible II
  • Mission: Impossible
  • The Firm
  • Days of Thunder
  • The Last Detail
  • Bonnie and Clyde
  • Tequila Sunrise
  • Frantic
  • Shampoo
  • The Two Jakes
  • The Yakuza
  • Ask the Dust
  • Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
  • Without Limits
  • The Tomb of Ligeia
  • McCabe & Mrs. Miller
  • The Missouri Breaks
  • Heaven Can Wait
  • The Parallax View
  • Love Affair
  • Orca
  • Personal Best
  • Villa Rides

Robert Towne Filmography

2012
Welcome To The Basement (TV Series) · as Screenplay
2006
Ask the Dust · as Screenplay
2000
Mission: Impossible II · as Screenplay
1998
1996
Mission: Impossible · as Screenplay
1994
Love Affair · as Screenplay
1993
The Firm · as Screenplay
1990
1990
Days of Thunder · as Screenplay
1988
Tequila Sunrise · as Screenplay
1988
1987
1986
1984
1983
1982
1978
1977
1976
1975
1974
The Yakuza · as Screenplay
1974
1974
1973
The Last Detail · as Screenplay
1972
1971
1971
McCabe & Mrs. Miller · as Screenplay
1971
Drive, He Said · as Screenplay
1968
Villa Rides · as Screenplay
1967
1964
The Tomb of Ligeia · as Screenplay
1964
1963
1962
1960

2007
Mad Men (TV Series) · as Consulting Producer
1987
The Bedroom Window · as Executive Producer
1982

2004
Suspect Zero · as Professor Dates (uncredited)
2004
1987
1975
Shampoo · as Party Guest (uncredited)
1971
Drive, He Said · as Richard
1971
The Zodiac Killer · as Man In Bar #3
1961
Creature from the Haunted Sea · as Sparks Moran / Agent Xk150 / Narrator
1960
Last Woman on Earth · as Martin Joyce

2018
Hal · as Self
2018
2016
A Classy Broad · as Self
2013
Salinger · as Self - Screenwriter
2011
2008
2008
2006
2005
2005
2005
The Outsider · as Self
2003
2003
2002
2002
2001
1999
The Century: America's Time (TV Series) · as Self - Screenwriter
1997
Cadillac Desert (TV Series) · as Self
1985
American Masters (TV Series) · as Self
1975
47th Annual Academy Awards · as Self - Winner
1973
AFI Life Achievement Award (TV Series) · as Self

1963
Breaking Point (TV Series) · as Teleplay

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