Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of "Shampoo," "The Last Detail" and other acclaimed films whose work on "Chinatown" became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles, has died. He was 89.
Recognizable around Hollywood for his high forehead and full beard, Towne won an Academy Award for "Chinatown" and was nominated three other times, for "The Last Detail," "Shampoo" and "Greystroke." In 1997, he received a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild of America. "Chinatown" was directed by Roman Polanski and starred Nicholson as J.J. “Jake” Gittes, a private detective asked to follow the husband of Evelyn Mulwray . The husband is chief engineer the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Gittes finds himself caught in a chaotic spiral of corruption and violence, embodied by Evelyn's ruthless father, Noah Cross .
“In it was a chapter called ‘Water, water, water,’ which was a revelation to me. And I thought ‘Why not do a picture about a crime that’s right out in front of everybody,‘” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2009.
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