Robert Towne | |
|---|---|
 Towne in 2006 | |
| Born | Robert Bertram Schwartz (1934-11-23)November 23, 1934 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 1, 2024(2024-07-01) (aged 89) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Pomona College |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1960–2017 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Jocelyn Towne (niece) |
Robert Towne (bornRobert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 – July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter and director. He started writing films forRoger Corman, includingThe Tomb of Ligeia in 1964, and was later part of theNew Hollywood wave of filmmaking.
Towne wrote and won anAcademy Award forRoman Polanski'sChinatown (1974); starringJack Nicholson, widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written,[1] as well as its sequel,The Two Jakes (1990). ForHal Ashby, he penned the comedy-dramasThe Last Detail (1973) andShampoo (1975). He collaborated withTom Cruise on the filmsDays of Thunder (1990),The Firm (1993) and the first two installments of theMission: Impossible franchise (1996, 2000).
Towne directed the sports dramasPersonal Best (1982) andWithout Limits (1998), the crime thrillerTequila Sunrise (1988), and the romantic dramaAsk the Dust (2006).
Towne was born Robert Bertram Schwartz inLos Angeles,California,[2][3] the son of Helen and Lou Schwartz, a clothing store owner and property developer who changed the family's name from "Schwartz" to "Towne." Towne grew up inSan Pedro andRolling Hills and attendedChadwick School.[4][5] His family was Jewish, and had emigrated fromRomania on his father's side andRussia on his mother's.[5] He had a younger brother, Roger,[2] who co-wrote the 1984 filmThe Natural starringRobert Redford.[6]
He graduated fromPomona College inClaremont,California, studying philosophy and literature.[7][8] After college, Towne served in theU.S. Army before doing odd jobs including working as a tuna fisherman.[8]
Towne originally sought work as a writer and actor. He took an acting class withRoger Corman taught byJeff Corey where his classmates also includedJack Nicholson (with whom he shared an apartment),Irvin Kershner, andSally Kellerman.[9]
Corman was known for giving work to untested people of talent. Towne wrote the screenplay for the Corman-financedLast Woman on Earth (1960), in which Towne also played one of the lead roles.
The following year he also starred in the Corman-financedCreature from the Haunted Sea (1961).
Towne started writing for television on such programs asThe Lloyd Bridges Show,Breaking Point,The Outer Limits, andThe Man from U.N.C.L.E..
He also wrote a screenplay for the Corman-directedThe Tomb of Ligeia (1965). In 1981 Towne said "I worked harder on... [that] screenplay for him than on anything I think I have ever done."[9]
Towne went back to working in television when Corman hired him to write a script for a Western, which becameA Time for Killing (1967). Corman left the project during filming and Towne took his name off the credits. Towne said later he "hated" the film.[10]
Towne's script forA Time for Killing had been read and admired byWarren Beatty, who asked Towne to help out on the script forBonnie and Clyde (1967). Towne later claimed his main contributions were removing theménage à trois relationship between Bonnie, Clyde, and C.W., making some structural changes.[11] Towne was on set during filming and continued to work during post-production. The film was a huge success and although Towne's contribution was credited only as a "special consultant", he began to earn a reputation in Hollywood as a top script doctor.[12]
Towne was credited onVilla Rides (1968), which he later said he did as a favor forRobert Evans, head of Paramount. He hated the experience.[13]
Towne did uncredited work on the scripts forDrive, He Said (1971), directed byJack Nicholson;Cisco Pike (1972), which Towne said turned into "a pretty good movie" but where he got "so angry with the director" he took his name off;[10] andThe New Centurions (1972), where he was to share credit withStirling Silliphant but asked for his name to be taken off after he saw the film.[14]
He did uncredited work forFrancis Ford Coppola during the making ofThe Godfather (1972), including the final scene between Michael and Vito in a garden, shortly before Vito dies.[12] Coppola later thanked Towne for writing this pivotal and "very beautiful" scene in his Academy Award speech for Best Screenplay.[15]
Towne also did some work onThe Parallax View (1974) at the behest of star Warren Beatty.
Towne received acclaim and was nominated in the Best Original and Adapted Screenplay categories for his scriptsThe Last Detail (1973),Chinatown (1974), andShampoo (1975).He won forChinatown.[16][17][18] He later said it was inspired by a chapter in Carey McWilliams'sSouthern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946) and aWest magazine article on Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles.
According toSam Wasson'sThe Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, Towne "secretly employed an old college friend named Edward Taylor as his uncredited writing partner for more than 40 years." (Taylor died in 2013).[19][20]
Towne was credited for his work onThe Yakuza (1975) and did script doctoring onThe Missouri Breaks (1976),Orca (1977) andHeaven Can Wait (1978).
Towne turned to directing withPersonal Best (1982). He also wrote the script forGreystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, hoping to direct, butPersonal Best was a financial failure, and he had to sell theGreystoke script. He grew dissatisfied with the production and credited his dog, P. H. Vazak, with the script. Vazak became the first dognominated for an Academy Award for screenwriting.[21]
Towne did uncredited work onDeal of the Century (1983),8 Million Ways to Die (1986),[22]Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) andFrantic (1988).
His second feature film as director wasTequila Sunrise (1988), which he wrote back in the early 1980s. Towne toldThe New York Times thatTequila Sunrise is "a movie about the use and abuse of friendship."[17]
Towne expressed his disappointment inThe Two Jakes in many interviews.[citation needed] He told writer Alex Simon, "In the interest of maintaining my friendships with Jack Nicholson and Robert Evans, I’d rather not go into it, but let’s just sayThe Two Jakes wasn’t a pleasant experience for any of us. But, we’re all still friends, and that’s what matters most."[23]
In a November 5, 2007, interview with MTV, Jack Nicholson claimed that Towne had written the part of Gittes specifically for him and had conceivedChinatown as a trilogy, with the third film set in 1968 and dealing in some way with Howard Hughes.[24] Towne said he did not know how the rumour started and denied any planned trilogy.
Towne wrote the script forDays of Thunder (1990) and formed a close friendship with its starTom Cruise.
He was one of the writers on Cruise'sThe Firm (1993), then Beatty'sLove Affair (1994). Cruise brought him on toMission: Impossible (1996) and co-produced Towne's third film as director,Without Limits (1998). He also co-wroteMission Impossible II (2000) for Cruise.
A project Towne had long sought to bring to the screen came to fruition in 2006 withAsk the Dust, a romantic period piece set in Los Angeles based on thenovel byJohn Fante and starringColin Farrell andSalma Hayek. Towne had found the novel decades earlier during his research forChinatown, as he was looking for authentic descriptions of 1930s Los Angeles. He enjoyed the book, considering it "the best book about Los Angeles ever written", and arranged a meeting with Fante, himself a screenwriter. As a result of that meeting, Towne was granted the screen rights to the novel. The rights eventually lapsed, and the new owner wasMel Brooks. In 1993, Towne wrote the script for free in exchange for the chance to direct the film.[25] Tom Cruise (with Paula Wagner and Cruise/Wagner Productions) served as one of the film's producers.Ask the Dust received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. The film was entered into the28th Moscow International Film Festival.[26]
Towne framed several of his signature films as elaboratemelodramas. He toldThe New York Times "I think melodrama is always a splendid occasion to entertain an audience and say things you want to say without rubbing their noses in it. With melodrama, as in dreams, you're always flirting with the disparity between appearance and reality, which is a great deal of fun. And that's also not unrelated to my perception of my life working in Hollywood, where you're always wondering, 'What does that guy really mean?'"[17]
In 2006, Towne was the subject of artistSarah Morris's film,Robert Towne. Morris describes him as an “elliptical figure” whose career exemplifies a certain characteristic mode of working in the film industry, marked by collaboration, shared or changing roles.[27] Morris's 19,744-square-foot (1,834.3 m2) painting installation in the entryway to theLever House in Manhattan, commissioned by the Public Art Fund, was also titled "Robert Towne".[28]
In the 2010s, Towne returned to television, working as a consulting producer onMad Men.[29]
In 2019, Towne began co-writing, withDavid Fincher, aNetflix prequel miniseries based onChinatown character J. J. Gittes, with Fincher serving asshowrunner.[30] By June 2024, a week before his death, Towne confirmed that the script for each episode had been completed.[31]
In 1968, Towne met actressJulie Payne; they were married from 1977 to 1982.[32] According to Sam Wasson'sThe Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood, Towne was addicted to cocaine during this period and was occasionally violent, which led to a bitter divorce and custody battle over their daughter Katharine (born 1978).
In 1984, Towne married Luisa Gaule. They had one daughter, Chiara.[33]
He was the former son-in-law of late actorJohn Payne and actressAnne Shirley. Through his daughter Katharine, he was former father-in-law of actorCharlie Hunnam.
Towne died at his home in Los Angeles on July 1, 2024, at the age of 89.[34]
Writer
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Last Woman on Earth | Roger Corman | |
| 1964 | The Tomb of Ligeia | ||
| 1968 | Villa Rides | Buzz Kulik | |
| 1973 | The Last Detail | Hal Ashby | |
| 1974 | Chinatown | Roman Polanski | |
| The Yakuza | Sydney Pollack | ||
| 1975 | Shampoo | Hal Ashby | |
| 1982 | Personal Best | Himself | Also credited as producer |
| 1984 | Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes | Hugh Hudson | Credited as P. H. Vazak |
| 1988 | Tequila Sunrise | Himself | |
| 1990 | The Two Jakes | Jack Nicholson | |
| Days of Thunder | Tony Scott | ||
| 1993 | The Firm | Sydney Pollack | |
| 1994 | Love Affair | Glenn Gordon Caron | |
| 1996 | Mission: Impossible | Brian De Palma | |
| 1998 | Without Limits | Himself | |
| 2000 | Mission: Impossible 2 | John Woo | |
| 2006 | Ask the Dust | Himself |
Uncredited writer
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Last Woman on Earth | Martin Joyce | Credited as Edward Wain |
| 1961 | Creature from the Haunted Sea | Sparks Moran/Agent XK150/Narrator | |
| 1971 | The Zodiac Killer | Man in Bar #3 | Credited as Robert Tubin |
| Drive, He Said | Richard | ||
| 1975 | Shampoo | Party Guest | Uncredited |
| 1987 | The Pick-up Artist | Stan | |
| 2004 | Suspect Zero | Professor Dates | Uncredited |
Other roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | The Young Racers | Assistant director |
| 1967 | Bonnie and Clyde | Special writing consultant |
| 1987 | The Bedroom Window | Executive producer |
Writer
| Year | Title | Episode(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | The Lloyd Bridges Show | "My Daddy Can Lick Your Daddy" |
| "A Personal Matter" | ||
| "The Last Lion" | ||
| "The Epidemic" | ||
| 1964 | Breaking Point | "So Many Pretty Girls, So Little Time" |
| The Outer Limits | "The Chameleon" | |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | "The Dove Affair" | |
| 2013-2017 | Welcome to the Basement | "Tough Guys Don't Dance" |
| "Shampoo" |
| Year | Title | Description | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | I Flew a Spy Plane Over Russia | Script forRoger Corman | [39] |
| 1975 | The Brotherhood of the Grape | Script forFrancis Ford Coppola, based upon the novel byJohn Fante | [40] |
| 1983 | The Mermaid | Script forWarren Beatty | [41] |
| 1985 | The Little Blue Whale | Script forDon Bluth | [42] |
| 1990 | Gittes vs. Gittes | Unproduced sequel script toThe Two Jakes | [43] |
| 1994 | Beverly Hills Cop III | Rejected script | [44] |
| The Night Manager | Script forSydney Pollack, based upon thenovel byJohn le Carré | [45] | |
| 2002 | Carter Beats the Devil | Director/producer, based upon thenovel byGlen David Gold | [46][47] |
| 2003 | The 39 Steps remake | Writer/director | [48][49] |
| 2009 | Fertig | Script forDavid Fincher, based uponThey Fought Alone byMaurice Buckmaster | [50] |
| 2011 | Pompeii TV miniseries | Four-part series forScott Free Productions, based onthe book byRobert Harris | [51] |
| Compadre TV pilot | Teleplay forScott Free Productions | [52] | |
| Next of Kin | Script for David Fincher | [53] | |
| The Battle of Britain | Script forGraham King | [52][53] | |
| 2018 | Dancing Bear TV pilot | Teleplay forMel Gibson, based upon the novel byJames Crumley | [54] |
| 2019 | UntitledChinatown prequel series | Teleplay for David Fincher, to be produced atNetflix | [30] |
Awards
In the bookFifty Filmmakers, journalist Andrew J. Rausch argues: "There is a strong case to be made that Robert Towne is the most gifted scribe ever to write for film. There can be little doubt that he is one of the finest ever."[55]
