(Los Angeles) Robert Towne, the Hollywood screenwriter behind the masterpiece Chinatownoften described as the greatest screenplay ever written, has died at the age of 89, it was announced Tuesday.
Winner of an Oscar for the screenplay, Mr. Towne died Monday, “peacefully at home, surrounded by his loving family,” his agent Carri McClure confirmed in a statement to AFP.
He had established himself as a figure of the New Hollywood of the 1970s, and was also known for having written the first two parts of the saga Impossible mission.
Several classic films have benefited from his contribution, although his name does not appear in the credits. Among others, Bonnie and Clyde And The Godfather.
He worked on the first as a “creative consultant” early in his career in the 1960s.
For The GodfatherMr. Towne was greeted on the Oscar stage by Francis Ford Coppola, who was awarded the statuette for best screenplay.
The director paid tribute to him for “the very beautiful scene between Marlon [Brando] and Al Pacino in the garden.”
That mention propelled Mr. Towne to the firmament of New Hollywood. At his peak, he was nominated for best screenplay Oscars three years in a row in the mid-1970s, and won the award for Chinatown.
The film stars Jack Nicholson as a 1930s private detective whose investigation of a cheating husband uncovers a world of corruption in Los Angeles.
Its complex plot, its dialogues both wise and dark and its audacious themes make Chinatown a script revered in film schools, even if its director Roman Polanski opted for a far more terrifying ending than the one initially envisaged by Mr. Towne.
Mr. Towne also directed a few films during his career.
As a screenwriter, he teamed up with Tom Cruise on Days of Thunderreleased in 1990. A collaboration that the duo had renewed on the first two Impossible mission.
Mr. Towne also served as a consulting producer on the popular television series Mad Men.