The American screenwriter and director, born Robert Bertram Schwartz, was widely considered one of the greatest writers in Hollywood. Robert Towne, who's career spanned some of the biggest classics of the New Hollywood era of filmmaking, has died at the age of 89. His publicist Carri McClure says he died on Monday surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles.
No cause of death has yet been revealed. , the independent filmmaker who was known as the “Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood” took Towne under his wing after he took Corman’s acting class, along with other future greats like Jack Nicholson. Towne wrote films for Corman before becoming a script doctor.
Warren Beatty had Towne restructure the script for 1967’s , as well as writing an uncredited scene for . Despite not being on the official credit role, in his Oscar acceptance speech, Coppola thanked Towne by name. This was the moment that thrust Towne into the limelight, which he followed with some of his most celebrated films over the three year span 1973-1975: , , and .
, the Roman Polanski film starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway was nominated for 11 Oscars with Towne winning the film’s only award for Best Original Screenplay. It’s the film that Towne is best known for and still regarded as a classic of the neo-noir genre today, regardless of the mixed public opinion of its director. After the success of the 70s, Towne became a director in the 80s, starting with the 1982 film .
He then wrote t.
