Robert Towne

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 Awardwinning original screenplay for Roman Polanskis Chinatown 1974 which is widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written He later said it was inspired by a chapter in Carey McWilliamss Southern California Country An Island on the Land 1946 and a West magazine article on Raymond Chandlers Los Angeles Towne also wrote the sequel The Two Jakes 1990 the Hal Ashby comedydramas 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