Robert Towne Biography (1934-)

Full name, Robert Burton Towne; born November 23, 1934, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Lou (a real estate developer) and Helen Towne; married Julie Payne (anactress), November 1977 (divorced, c. 1981); married Luisa Gaule, c. 1985; children: (first marriage) Katharine Payne; (second marriage) Chiara Gaule. Addresses: Agent: Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Nationality
American
Gender
Male
Occupation
Screenwriter, director, producer, actor
Birth Details
November 23, 1934
Los Angeles, California, United States

Famous Works

  • CREDITS
  • Film Work
  • Second assistant director, The Young Racers, 1963
  • Producer and director, Personal Best, Warner Bros., 1982
  • Executive producer, The Bedroom Window, De Laurentis EntertainmentGroup, 1987
  • Director, Tequila Sunrise, Warner Bros., 1988
  • Story consultant, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, 1990
  • Director and producer, Without Limits, Warner Bros., 1998
  • Director, Ask the Dust, Paramount, 2005
  • Director, The 39 Steps, 2005
  • Script consultant, Mission: Impossible III (also known as M:I-3), Paramount, 2006
  • Film Appearances
  • (As Edward Wain) Martin Joyce, The Last Woman on Earth, Filmgroup,1960
  • (As Edward Wain) Sparks Moran, Agent XK150, and narrator, The Creaturefrom the Haunted Sea, Filmgroup, 1961
  • Third man in bar, The Zodiac Killer, 1971
  • Richard, Drive, He Said, Columbia, 1971
  • (Uncredited) Party guest, Shampoo, 1975
  • Stan, The Pick-Up Artist, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1987
  • Himself, Chinatown Revisited with Roman Polanski, Robert Evans and Robert Towne (documentary short film), Paramount Home Video, 1999
  • Himself, Behind the Mission: The Making of "M:I-2" (documentary short film; also known as Behind the Mission: The Making of "Mission: Impossible II"), Paramount Home Video, 2000
  • Himself, A Decade under the Influence (documentary), IFC Films, 2003
  • (Uncredited) Professor Dates, Suspect Zero, Paramount, 2004
  • Television Appearances
  • Miniseries
  • Cadillac Desert (documentary), PBS, 1997
  • Specials
  • The 47th Annual Academy Awards, NBC, 1975
  • AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies, CBS, 1998
  • Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy, PBS, 1998
  • Himself, Playing the Field: Sports and Sex in America (documentary), HBO, 2000
  • Himself, Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film (documentary), AMC, 2002
  • Himself, Rescued from the Closet (documentary), AMC, 2002
  • Himself, AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes & Villains (also knownas AFI's 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains: America's Greatest ScreenCharacters), CBS, 2003
  • Episodic
  • American Cinema, PBS, 1995
  • WRITINGS
  • Screenplays
  • (As Edward Wain) The Last Woman on Earth, Filmgroup, 1960
  • My Daddy Can Lick Your Daddy, 1962
  • The Tomb of Ligeia (also known as Tomb of the Cat, Ligeia, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tomb of Ligeia," and Last Tomb of Ligeia), American International, 1965
  • (With Sam Peckinpah) Villa Rides, Paramount, 1968
  • The Last Detail, Columbia, 1973
  • Chinatown, Paramount, 1974
  • (With Warren Beatty) Shampoo, Columbia, 1975
  • (With Paul Schrader) The Yakuza (also known as Brotherhood of Yakuza), Warner Bros./Toei, 1975
  • Personal Best, Warner Bros., 1982
  • (As P. H. Vazak; with Michael Austin) Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,Lord of the Apes, Warner Bros., 1984
  • The Bedroom Window, De Laurentis Entertainment Group, 1987
  • Tequila Sunrise, Warner Bros., 1988
  • The Two Jakes, Paramount, 1990
  • Days of Thunder (based on a story by Towne and Tom Cruise), Paramount, 1990
  • (With David Rabe and David Rayfiel) The Firm, Paramount, 1993
  • (With Beatty) Love Affair, Warner Bros., 1994
  • (With David Koepp) Mission Impossible (also known as Mission: Impossible), Paramount, 1996
  • (With Kenneth Moore) Without Limits, Warner Bros., 1998
  • Mission: Impossible 2 (also known as M:I-2 and Mission:Impossible II), Paramount, 2000
  • Ask the Dust, 2005
  • The 39 Steps, Paramount, 2005
  • Script Doctor
  • Uncredited
  • The Creature from the Haunted Sea, Filmgroup, 1961
  • A Time for Killing, Columbia, 1967
  • (Credited as "special consultant") Bonnie and Clyde, Warner Bros.,1967
  • Cisco Pike, Columbia, 1971
  • Drive, He Said, 1971
  • Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Paramount, 1972
  • Cisco Pike, 1972
  • The New Centurions (also known as Precinct 45: Los Angeles Police), 1972
  • The Parallax View, 1974
  • Missouri Breaks, 1976
  • Marathon Man, Paramount, 1977
  • Orca (also known as The Killer Whale and Orca: The Killer Whale), 1977
  • Heaven Can Wait, 1978
  • Reds, 1981
  • Swing Shift, Warner Bros., 1984
  • Eight Million Ways to Die, TriStar, 1986
  • Tough Guys Don't Dance, 1987
  • Frantic, Warner Bros., 1988
  • Armageddon, Buena Vista, 1998
  • Television Episodes
  • The Lloyd Bridges Show (four episodes), CBS, 1962-63
  • "The Chameleon," The Outer Limits, ABC, 1964
  • "The Dove Affair," The Man from U.N.C.L.E., NBC, 1964
  • "So Many Pretty Girls, So Little Time," Breaking Point, ABC, 1964
  • The Richard Boone Show, NBC, 1964
  • Other Writings
  • "A Screenwriter on Screenwriting," Anatomy of the Movies, Macmillan, 1981

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

    Books
    • International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Volume 4: Writers and Production Artists, 4th edition, St. James Press, 2000
    Periodicals
    • American Film, January/February, 1989
    • Entertainment Weekly, September 18, 1998, p. 21
    • Esquire, July, 1991, p. 86

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