Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 – July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter and director. He started writing films for
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...
, including ''
The Tomb of Ligeia'' in 1964, and was later part of the
New Hollywood
The New Hollywood, Hollywood Renaissance, American New Wave, or New American Cinema (not to be confused with the New American Cinema of the 1960s that was part of Experimental film, avant-garde underground film, underground cinema), was a movemen ...
wave of filmmaking.
Towne wrote and won an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
's ''
Chinatown'' (1974); starring
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...
, widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written, as well as its sequel, ''
The Two Jakes'' (1990). For
Hal Ashby
William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an Cinema of the United States, American film Film director, director and Film editing, editor. His work exemplified the countercultural attitude of the era. He directed wide-rangi ...
, he penned the comedy-dramas ''
The Last Detail'' (1973) and ''
Shampoo'' (1975). He collaborated with
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...
on the films ''
Days of Thunder'' (1990), ''
The Firm'' (1993) and the first two installments of the ''
Mission: Impossible'' franchise (1996, 2000).
Towne directed the sports dramas ''
Personal Best'' (1982) and ''
Without Limits'' (1998), the crime thriller ''
Tequila Sunrise'' (1988), and the romantic drama ''
Ask the Dust'' (2006).
Early life
Towne was born Robert Bertram Schwartz in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
the son of Helen and Lou Schwartz, a clothing store owner and property developer. He grew up in
San Pedro and
Rolling Hills and attended
Chadwick School.
His family was Jewish, and had emigrated from
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
on his father's side and
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
on his mother's.
He had a younger brother, Roger,
who co-wrote the 1984 film ''
The Natural'' starring
Robert Redford.
He graduated from
Pomona College
Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...
in
Claremont,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, studying philosophy and literature.
[Robert Towne obituary: American screenwriter and director best known for the hit films Chinatown, The Last Detail and Shampoo](_blank)
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. Retrieved July 14, 2024. After college, Towne served in the
U.S. Army before doing odd jobs including working as a tuna fisherman.
Career
Roger Corman
Towne originally sought work as a writer and actor. He took an acting class with
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...
taught by
Jeff Corey where his classmates also included
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...
(with whom he shared an apartment),
Irvin Kershner, and
Sally Kellerman.
[Brady p 390]
Corman was known for giving work to untested people of talent. Towne wrote the screenplay for the Corman-financed ''
Last Woman on Earth'' (1960), in which Towne also played one of the lead roles.
The following year he also starred in the Corman-financed ''
Creature from the Haunted Sea'' (1961).
Television
Towne started writing for television on such programs as ''
The Lloyd Bridges Show'', ''
Breaking Point'', ''
The Outer Limits'', and ''
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''.
He also wrote a screenplay for the Corman-directed ''
The Tomb of Ligeia'' (1965). In 1981 Towne said "I worked harder on...
hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
screenplay for him than on anything I think I have ever done."
Towne went back to working in television when Corman hired him to write a script for a Western, which became ''
A Time for Killing'' (1967). Corman left the project during filming and Towne took his name off the credits. Towne said later he "hated" the film.
[Brady p 388]
Script doctor
Towne's script for ''A Time for Killing'' had been read and admired by
Warren Beatty
Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...
, who asked Towne to help out on the script for ''
Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967). Towne later claimed his main contributions were removing the
ménage à trois
A () is a domestic arrangement or committed relationship consisting of three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together. The phrase is a loan from French meaning "household of three". ...
relationship between Bonnie, Clyde, and W.D., making some structural changes. Towne was on set during filming and continued to work during post-production. The film was a huge success and although Towne's contribution was credited only as a "special consultant", he began to earn a reputation in Hollywood as a top script doctor.
[Brady p 399]
Towne was credited on ''
Villa Rides'' (1968), which he later said he did as a favor for
Robert Evans, head of Paramount. He hated the experience.
Towne did uncredited work on the scripts for ''
Drive, He Said'' (1971), directed by
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...
; ''
Cisco Pike'' (1972), which Towne said turned into "a pretty good movie" but where he got "so angry with the director" he took his name off;
and ''
The New Centurions'' (1972), where he was to share credit with
Stirling Silliphant but asked for his name to be taken off after he saw the film.
He did uncredited work for
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
during the making of ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'' (1972), including the final scene between Michael and Vito in a garden, shortly before Vito dies.
Coppola later thanked Towne for writing this pivotal and "very beautiful" scene in his Academy Award speech for Best Screenplay.
Towne also did some work on ''
The Parallax View'' (1974) at the behest of star Warren Beatty.
''The Last Detail'', ''Chinatown'', and ''Shampoo''
Towne received acclaim and was nominated in the Best Original and Adapted Screenplay categories for his scripts ''
The Last Detail'' (1973), ''
Chinatown'' (1974), and ''
Shampoo'' (1975).
He won for ''Chinatown''.
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.
According to
Sam Wasson's ''The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood'', Towne "secretly employed an old college friend named Edward Taylor as his uncredited writing partner for more than 40 years." (Taylor died in 2013).
Towne was credited for his work on ''
The Yakuza'' (1975) and did script doctoring on ''
The Missouri Breaks'' (1976), ''
Orca'' (1977) and ''
Heaven Can Wait'' (1978).
Director
Towne turned to directing with ''
Personal Best'' (1982). He also wrote the script for ''
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'', hoping to direct, but ''Personal Best'' was a financial failure, and he had to sell the ''Greystoke'' script. He grew dissatisfied with the production and credited his dog, P. H. Vazak, with the script. Vazak became the first dog
nominated for an Academy Award for screenwriting.
Towne did uncredited work on ''
Deal of the Century'' (1983), ''
8 Million Ways to Die'' (1986) (), ''
Tough Guys Don't Dance'' (1987) and ''
Frantic'' (1988).
His second feature film as director was ''
Tequila Sunrise'' (1988), which he wrote back in the early 1980s. Towne told ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that ''Tequila Sunrise'' is "a movie about the use and abuse of friendship."
''The Two Jakes''
Towne expressed his disappointment in ''The Two Jakes'' in many interviews. He told writer Alex Simon, "In the interest of maintaining my friendships with Jack Nicholson and Robert Evans, I’d rather not go into it, but let’s just say ''The Two Jakes'' wasn’t a pleasant experience for any of us. But, we’re all still friends, and that’s what matters most."
In a November 5, 2007, interview with MTV, Jack Nicholson claimed that Towne had written the part of Gittes specifically for him and had conceived ''Chinatown'' as a trilogy, with the third film set in 1968 and dealing in some way with Howard Hughes. Towne said he did not know how the rumour started and denied any planned trilogy.
Tom Cruise
Towne wrote the script for ''
Days of Thunder'' (1990) and formed a close friendship with its star
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...
.
He was one of the writers on Cruise's ''
The Firm'' (1993), then Beatty's ''
Love Affair'' (1994). Cruise brought him on to ''
Mission: Impossible'' (1996) and co-produced Towne's third film as director, ''
Without Limits'' (1998). He also co-wrote ''
Mission Impossible II'' (2000) for Cruise.
Later career
A project Towne had long sought to bring to the screen came to fruition in 2006 with ''
Ask the Dust'', a romantic period piece set in Los Angeles based on the
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
by
John Fante and starring
Colin Farrell and
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...
. Towne had found the novel decades earlier during his research for ''Chinatown'', as he was looking for authentic descriptions of 1930s Los Angeles. He enjoyed the book, considering it "the best book about Los Angeles ever written", and arranged a meeting with Fante, himself a screenwriter. As a result of that meeting, Towne was granted the screen rights to the novel. The rights eventually lapsed, and the new owner was
Mel Brooks
Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...
. In 1993, Towne wrote the script for free in exchange for the chance to direct the film. Tom Cruise (with Paula Wagner and Cruise/Wagner Productions) served as one of the film's producers. ''Ask the Dust'' received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. The film was entered into the
28th Moscow International Film Festival.
Towne framed several of his signature films as elaborate
melodramas. He told ''The New York Times'' "I think melodrama is always a splendid occasion to entertain an audience and say things you want to say without rubbing their noses in it. With melodrama, as in dreams, you're always flirting with the disparity between appearance and reality, which is a great deal of fun. And that's also not unrelated to my perception of my life working in Hollywood, where you're always wondering, 'What does that guy really mean?'"
In 2006, Towne was the subject of artist
Sarah Morris's film, ''Robert Towne''. Morris describes him as an “elliptical figure” whose career exemplifies a certain characteristic mode of working in the film industry, marked by collaboration, shared or changing roles. Morris's painting installation in the entryway to the
Lever House in Manhattan, commissioned by the Public Art Fund, was also titled "Robert Towne".
Return to television
In the 2010s, Towne returned to television, working as a consulting producer on ''
Mad Men'' and writing two episodes of ''Welcome to the Basement''.
In 2019, Towne began co-writing, with
David Fincher, a
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
prequel miniseries based on ''Chinatown'' character J. J. Gittes, with Fincher serving as
showrunner.
By June 2024, a week before his death, Towne confirmed that the script for each episode had been completed.
Personal life
In 1968, Towne met actress
Julie Payne; they were married from 1977 to 1982. According to Sam Wasson's ''The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood'', Towne was addicted to cocaine during this period and was occasionally violent, which led to a bitter divorce and custody battle over their daughter Katharine (born 1978).
In 1984, Towne married Luisa Gaule. They had one daughter, Chiara.
He was the former son-in-law of late actor
John Payne and actress
Anne Shirley. Through his daughter Katharine, he was former father-in-law of actor
Charlie Hunnam
Charles Matthew Hunnam (; born 10 April 1980) is an English actor. He portrayed Jax Teller in the FX (TV channel), FX drama series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), for which he was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for ...
.
Towne died at his home in Los Angeles on July 1, 2024, at the age of 89.
Filmography
Film
Writer
Uncredited writer
* ''
Drive, He Said'' (1971)
* ''
Cisco Pike'' (1972)
* ''
The New Centurions'' (1972)
* ''
The Godfather
''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'' (1972)
* ''
The Parallax View'' (1974)
* ''
The Missouri Breaks'' (1976)
* ''
Marathon Man'' (1976)
* ''
Orca'' (1977)
* ''
Heaven Can Wait'' (1978)
* ''
Reds'' (1981) (Consultant)
* ''
Deal of the Century'' (1983)
* ''
Swing Shift'' (1984)
* ''
8 Million Ways to Die'' (1986)
* ''
Tough Guys Don't Dance'' (1987)
* ''
Frantic'' (1988)
* ''
Crimson Tide'' (1995)
* ''
Armageddon'' (1998)
* ''
Mission: Impossible III'' (2006)
Actor
Other roles
Television
Writer
Unmade projects
Legacy and honors
Awards
*
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
**1974: Nominated,
Best Adapted Screenplay, ''
The Last Detail''
**1975: Won,
Best Original Screenplay, ''Chinatown''
**1976: Nominated, Best Original Screenplay, ''Shampoo''
**1985: Nominated, Best Adapted Screenplay, ''Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan''
*
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...
**1975: Won, Best Screenplay, ''The Last Detail'' and ''Chinatown''
*
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
**1975: Won, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, ''Chinatown''
*
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...
**1975: Won, Best Motion Picture, ''Chinatown'' (Author)
*
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
Th ...
**1997:
Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement
*
Nantucket Film Festival
**2015: Screenwriters Tribute Award
In the book ''Fifty Filmmakers'', journalist Andrew J. Rausch argues: "There is a strong case to be made that Robert Towne is the most gifted scribe ever to write for film. There can be little doubt that he is one of the finest ever."
Citations
General and cited references
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Towne, Robert
1934 births
2024 deaths
American male screenwriters
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Edgar Award winners
Jewish American military personnel
Jewish American screenwriters
Military personnel from California
Military personnel from Los Angeles
People from Rolling Hills, California
Pomona College alumni
Screenwriters from Los Angeles
United States Army soldiers
Writers Guild of America Award winners