‘If you’ve ever been on a, on a film that didn’t, didn’t quite work out, you- you know how much you owe to the people on a film that did’ — List of Robert Towne Oscar nominations, wins
Posted: August 2026
List of Oscar nominations and wins for Robert Towne. Robert Towne, an acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter, was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and won 1. Robert Towne died in Los Angeles on July 1, 2024, at 89. Year indicates year/period for which films were eligible for awards consideration, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscars.org, Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia
1984: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (Best Adapted Screenplay) (shared with Michael Austin) — lost to Amadeus (Peter Shaffer). Other nominees: A Passage to India (David Lean), A Soldier’s Story (Charles Fuller), The Killing Fields (Bruce Robinson)
1975: Shampoo (Best Original Screenplay) (shared with Warren Beatty) — lost to Dog Day Afternoon (Frank Pierson). Other nominees: Lies My Father Told Me (Ted Allan), And Now My Love (Claude Lelouch, Pierre Uytterhoeven), Amarcord (Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra)
WON: 1974: Chinatown (Best Original Screenplay) — Other nominees: Day for Night (François Truffaut, Jean-Louis Richard, Suzanne Schiffman), Harry and Tonto (Paul Mazursky, Josh Greenfeld), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Robert Getchell), The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola)
1973: The Last Detail (Best Adapted Screenplay) — lost to The Exorcist (William Peter Blatty). Other nominees: Serpico (Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler), Paper Moon (Alvin Sargent), The Paper Chase (James Bridges)
