Robert Towne

Writer-director

Born - 23 November 1934, Los Angeles, California, USA
Died - 1 July 2024

Lugubrious, long-headed, latterly bearded American writer and occasional director. Born Robert Schwartz and one of the most influential and acclaimed screenwriters of his generation, Towne won an Oscar for Chinatown (1974). Other screenplays included those for The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Drive, He Said (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Frantic (1988), The Two Jakes (1990), The Firm (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Mission Impossible 2 (2000). Films he directed as well as wrote include Personal Best (1982), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Without Limits (1998) and Ask the Dust (2006).