Robert Towne

Robert Towne won the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Chinatown (1974), Roman Polanski's classic detective neo-noir set in 1930s Los Angeles. Inspired by the dialogue in John Fante's Ask the Dust and a chapter in Fante's friend Carey McWilliams's Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946), Towne's script is now hailed as one of the greatest in film history. His many screen credits include The Last Detail , Shampoo , The Firm , Mission Impossible , and Ask the Dust (2006), which...See more

Robert Towne won the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Chinatown (1974), Roman Polanski's classic detective neo-noir set in 1930s Los Angeles. Inspired by the dialogue in John Fante's Ask the Dust and a chapter in Fante's friend Carey McWilliams's Southern California Country: An Island on the Land (1946), Towne's script is now hailed as one of the greatest in film history. His many screen credits include The Last Detail , Shampoo , The Firm , Mission Impossible , and Ask the Dust (2006), which he wrote and directed. With director David Fincher, he is developing a Chinatown prequel series for Netflix. See less