FILM DIRECTOR

Robert Towne

1934 - 2024

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Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 – July 1, 2024) was an American screenwriter and director. He started writing films for Roger Corman, including The Tomb of Ligeia in 1964, and was later part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Towne wrote and won the Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974); starring Jack Nicholson, widely considered one of the greatest screenplays ever written, as well as its sequel, The Two Jakes (1990). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Robert Towne has received more than 1,201,914 page views. His biography is available in 19 different languages on Wikipedia. Robert Towne is the 1,021st most popular film director (down from 852nd in 2019), the 6,497th most popular biography from United States (down from 5,559th in 2019) and the 247th most popular American Film Director.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 48.25

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 19

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.51

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.35

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among FILM DIRECTORS

Among film directors, Robert Towne ranks 1,021 out of 2,041. Before him are Dominic Sena, Pyotr Todorovsky, Konstantin Lopushansky, Peter Fleischmann, Iwao Takamoto, and Wilfred Jackson. After him are Fedor Ozep, Sergio Amidei, Archie Mayo, Irwin Allen, Joe May, and John Berry.

Most Popular Film Directors in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1934, Robert Towne ranks 340. Before him are Richard D. Zanuck, Mikhail Kozakov, Ian Abercrombie, Lasse Mårtenson, Martí Vergés, and Barry Humphries. After him are Aurelio Milani, Peter Maxwell Davies, Zlatko Papec, Mario Segale, Alketas Panagoulias, and Lucien Clergue. Among people deceased in 2024, Robert Towne ranks 178. Before him are Joe Engle, Piedad Córdoba, Kagney Linn Karter, Ben Vautier, Lynn Conway, and Brian Lumley. After him are Yoshiko Kuga, Wayne Kramer, Gary Graham, Pedro Rubiano Sáenz, Mario Boljat, and Bill Walton.

Others Born in 1934

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Others Deceased in 2024

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Robert Towne ranks 6,497 out of 20,380. Before him are Wilfred Jackson (1906), George Peabody (1795), James Jesus Angleton (1917), Sid Caesar (1922), Trent Reznor (1965), and Michelle Akers (1966). After him are Jeff Corey (1914), Mildred Davis (1901), Debra Jo Rupp (1951), Beth Grant (1949), Johnny Griffin (1928), and Donovan Scott (1947).

Others born in United States

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Among FILM DIRECTORS In United States

Among film directors born in United States, Robert Towne ranks 247. Before him are Ruth Orkin (1921), Randall Wallace (1949), Larry Cohen (1936), Dominic Sena (1949), Iwao Takamoto (1925), and Wilfred Jackson (1906). After him are Archie Mayo (1891), Irwin Allen (1916), John Berry (1917), Candida Royalle (1950), Mimi Leder (1952), and Michael Chapman (1935).

American born Film Directors

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Filmography

Mission: Impossible
Director
When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the prime suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.
May 22o 19967 / 10
Mission: Impossible II
Director
With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.
May 24o 20006.1 / 10
Chinatown
Director
Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.
Jun 20o 19747.9 / 10