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Robert Towne is 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.
Birth Name
Robert Bertram Schwartz
Born
Friday, 23 November 1934
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael | Self | 2019 |
| Hal | Self | 2018 |
| A Classy Broad | Self | 2016 |
| Salinger | Self / Self - Screenwriter | 2013 |
| The Story of Film: An Odyssey | Self - Interviewee | 2011 |
| Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde' | Himself / Self | 2008 |
| 50 Films to See Before You Die | Self | 2006 |
| Budd Boetticher: An American Original | Self | 2005 |
| The Outsider | Self | 2005 |
| Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That | Interviewee / Self | 2005 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
Director Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Ask the Dust | 2006 |
| Without Limits | 1998 |
| Tequila Sunrise | 1988 |
| Personal Best | 1982 |
Producer Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Mad Men | 2007 |
| The Bedroom Window | 1987 |
| Personal Best | 1982 |
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1985 | Oscar | Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium | Nominated |
| 1976 | Oscar | Best Writing, Original Screenplay | Nominated |
| 1975 | Oscar | Best Writing, Original Screenplay | Won |
| 1975 | Golden Globe | Best Screenplay - Motion Picture | Won |
| 1974 | Oscar | Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium | Nominated |
