![Writer Robert Towne](https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/03/5211d4c0-29c5-41c3-915a-b75691688f8a/thumbnail/640x360/a055f2c13f79bf4fd96b9c963ece7b17/gettyimages-81547612.jpg?v=57e8061b2038d609da26e467de5ddfb8#)
Robert Towne, legendary Hollywood screenwriter of "Chinatown," dies at 89
Through his friendships with Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, he wrote or co-wrote some of the signature films of an era when artists held an unusual level of creative control.