Robert Towne, the American screenwriter and director born Robert Bertram Schwartz, has died at the age of 89. Widely considered one of the greatest writers in Hollywood, his career spanned some of the biggest classics of the New Hollywood era of filmmaking. His publicist Carri McClure confirmed his passing, stating he died on Monday surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles. No cause of death has been revealed.
Towne’s journey began under the guidance of Roger Corman, the independent filmmaker known as the “Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood.” Corman took Towne under his wing after he took Corman’s acting class, alongside future greats like Jack Nicholson. Towne wrote films for Corman before transitioning into a script doctor. This led him to work with Warren Beatty, restructuring the script for 1967’s ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ and writing an uncredited scene for ‘The Godfather.’ Despite the absence of official credit, Francis Ford Coppola acknowledged Towne by name during his Oscar acceptance speech. This pivotal moment thrust Towne into the spotlight, paving the way for some of his most celebrated films in the three-year span of 1973-1975: ‘The Last Detail,’ ‘Shampoo,’ and ‘Chinatown.’
‘Chinatown,’ directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, was nominated for 11 Oscars, with Towne securing the only award for Best Original Screenplay. This film solidified Towne’s reputation, becoming synonymous with his name and considered a classic of the neo-noir genre today, despite the mixed public opinion surrounding its director.
Following his success in the 1970s, Towne ventured into directing in the 1980s, starting with the 1982 film ‘Personal Best.’ He later wrote the script for ‘The Right Stuff,’ but after its lackluster commercial performance, he was unable to direct. His dissatisfaction with the production led him to credit the script under his dog’s name, P.H. Vazak. When the film received three Oscar nominations, including one for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Towne’s dog became the first dog nominated for a screenwriting Oscar. In 1990, Towne released his sequel, ‘The Two Jakes,’ though it failed to replicate the critical and commercial success of the original. Despite this setback, he found critical acclaim that year with ‘Days of Thunder,’ his first collaboration with Tom Cruise. He went on to write ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ‘Mission: Impossible 2,’ and co-produced Cruise’s directorial debut, ‘Vanilla Sky.’ In 2006, he directed his final film, ‘The Accidental Tourist.’
Towne’s first marriage was to actress Julia Payne in 1977, with whom he had a daughter, Katherine, born in 1978. They divorced in 1982. In 1984, he married Luisa Gaule, and they had a daughter, Chiara.
