Robert Towne, the screenwriting legend who won an Oscar for 'Chinatown,' penned 'Shampoo,' and served as a script doctor on 'The Godfather,' has died at 89.
Towne's screenwriting credits also included "The Last Detail," "Tequila Sunrise," and the first two "Mission: Impossible" films.with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies,, and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books.
Robert Bertram Schwartz was born Nov. 23, 1934, in San Pedro, Calif., home to the Port of Los Angeles. Towne was always enamored with L.A. and its history, and his father worked as a clothing store owner and later a property developer. Initially, Towne had aspirations to act, and after completing his college degree at Pomona College in Claremont, he went on to study with renowned acting teacher Jeff Corey. His classmates included Nicholson and Roger Corman.
Corman, credited with giving many members of a new generation of Hollywood their starts, recruited Towne to write the screenplays for 1961's, which he removed his name from, that brought him to the attention of Beatty and a job refining the script for, The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywoodto be part of a trilogy, moving through decades of Los Angeles history. They finally made a second film with 1990's, but the disappointing experience nixed any plans for a third .
In his later years, Towne predominantly worked as a script doctor, besides bringing his passion project, an adaptation of John Fante's 1930s Los Angeles novelHe was married to actress Julia Payne from 1977 to 1982, after dating for nearly 10 years prior. Payne died in 2019, but the two are survived by their daughter, actress Katharine Towne. Robert Towne is also survived by his daughter Chiara, whom he shared with his second wife, Luisa Gaule.
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