Robert Towne, Oscar-winning screenwriter of the neo-noir classic Chinatownpassed away this week at the age of 89.
Towne’s publicist, Carrie McClure, confirmed that the legendary writer-director died this week at his home in Los Angeles. variety:
Towne rose to prominence in the 1970s with three critically and commercially successful films released within a 14-month period: The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), and Shampoo (1975). He was nominated for best original screenplay for all three, winning the Oscar for Chinatown.
Towne, who was hired by Warren Beatty as a “special advisor” on 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde,” restructured the film to dramatize the outlaws’ impending doom, and he also turned a listless family reunion scene with Beatty and Faye Dunaway into one of the movie’s emotional highlights. Clyde’s charming bravado is undermined when Bonnie’s mother replies, “If you try to live three miles from me, you’re not going to live long, honey.”
Director Arthur Penn was delighted with Towne’s performance: “It helped Warren’s performance and it definitely helped Faye’s performances and her mother’s performances,” Penn said.
Much of Towne’s work was uncredited throughout the 1970s, when he worked as a screenwriter. Marathon Man, Missouri Breakand Heaven is waitingBut he achieved a unique success when director Francis Ford Coppola publicly thanked him for writing a garden scene starring Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, in which Brando’s Don Corleone reluctantly passes the baton to his son Michael.
Towne also wrote the screenplay for the film starring Jack Nicholson. One last detail.
Towne’s directing career was not as critically or commercially successful as his writing career, but he did receive attention for his acclaimed 1992 Olympic sports drama The Guardian. No limit It stars Billy Crudup, who also directed the 1988 crime drama. Tequila Sunrise Starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell.
In the 1990s, Towne hit a new stride, working on a number of films starring Tom Cruise. office And the first two Mission Impossible movie.
