Towne, Robert 1934–

Towne, Robert 1934–

(P. H. Vazak, Edward Wain)

PERSONAL

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 (an actress), November 1977 (divorced, c. 1981); married Luisa Gaule, c. 1985; children: (first marriage) Katharine Payne; (second marriage) Chiara Gaule. Education: Studied philosophy and literature at Pomona State College; studied acting with Jeff Corey.

Addresses: Agent —Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career: Screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. Also worked as a real estate agent and commercial fisherman. Military service: U.S. Army.

Awards, Honors: Academy Award nomination, best screenplay based on material from another medium, 1973, Writers Guild of American Award (screen) nomination, best drama adapted from another medium, 194, Film Award, best screenplay, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1975, all for The Last Detail; Academy Award, best original screenplay, 1974, Golden Globe Award, best screenplay—motion picture, Film Award, best screenplay, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Edgar Allan Poe Award, best movie, Writer Guild of America Award (screen), best drama written directly for the screen, 1975, all for Chinatown; Academy Award nomination (with Warren Beatty), best original screenplay, National Society of Film Critics Award (with Beatty), best screenplay, 1975, Writers Guild of America Award (screen)(with Beatty), best comedy written directly for the screen, 1976, all for Shampoo; Academy Award nomination (with Michael Austin), best screenplay based on material from another medium, 1984, Writers Guild of America Award (screen) nomination (with Austin), best screenplay based on material from another medium, both for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes; Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement, Writers Guild of America, 1997; Film Excellence Award, Boston Film Festival, 1998; Hollywood Discovery Awards, outstanding achievement in cinematography and outstanding achievement in screenwriting, Hollywood Film Festival, 2002.

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 Entertainment Group, 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 Creature from 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.

Television Appearances; 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 known as AFI's 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains: America's Greatest Screen Characters ), CBS, 2003.

Television Appearances; 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.

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.