Screenwriter Robert Towne, best known for his work on the films "Chinatown" and "The Last Detail," died on Monday at the age of 89.

Robert Towne, who won an Oscar for his Chinatown original screenplay and was nominated for his Shampoo, The Last Detail and Greystoke scripts, died Monday at his home. He was 89. PR firm McClure & Associates announced the news on behalf of Towne’s family.

NPR's Scott Simon remembers screenwriter Robert Towne, who died this week. Towne won an Oscar for Chinatown, which is considered one of the best screenplays in American cinema.

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,

Towne was a natural raconteur whose stories were every bit as rich as his screenplays - as evidenced by an in-depth Variety interview that ran last month - and whose best writing often went uncredited.

Robert Towne, el guionista galardonado del Oscar por “Shampoo”, “The Last Detail” (“El último deber”) y otras películas aclamadas cuyo trabajo en “Chinatown” (“Barrio Chino”) se convirtió en un modelo