Robert Towne

In 1971 Robert Towne declined Robert Evans’ offer of $175,000 to adapt The Great Gatsby, opting to take $25,000 for an original screenplay on which he was working. The inspiration came from a Los Angeles vice cop who told him that when he was in Chinatown he did “as little as possible.” Towne won an Oscar for Chinatown in 1975 and was nominated for The Last Detail and Shampoo. He was an uncredited script doctor on Bonnie and Clyde and The Godfather.