Celebrated for his mastery of dialogue, he also contributed (though without credit) to the scripts of “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Godfather.”

Robert Towne, the Oscar-winning screenplay writer of "Shampoo," "The Last Detail" and other films whose script for "Chinatown" became a model of the art form and helped define the jaded allure of his native Los Angeles,

Maybe Jane Fonda for the blonde.” “What’s it about?” “Los Angeles. In the ’30s. Before the war.” “What happens?” “I don’t know. That’s all I know.” Thus spake screenwriter Robert Towne to his then-girlfriend,