Editing Robert Towne (section)

==Early life==
Towne was born Robert Bertram Schwartz in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]],<ref name="ERRB">{{cite book|author=[[Peter Biskind|Biskind, Peter]]|title=[[Easy Riders, Raging Bulls]]|year=1999|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|isbn=978-0-7475-4421-0|page=30}}</ref><ref>According to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427102456/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461 |date=27 April 2011 }}</ref> the son of Helen and Lou Schwartz, a clothing store owner and property developer. He grew up in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]] and [[Rolling Hills, California|Rolling Hills]] and attended [[Chadwick School]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Bill |date=2024-07-02 |title=Robert Towne, Screenwriter of 'Chinatown' and More, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/movies/robert-towne-dead.html |access-date=2024-07-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=3 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703001220/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/movies/robert-towne-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Lennon thesis" /> His family was Jewish, and had emigrated from [[Romanian Jews|Romania]] on his father's side and [[Russian Jews|Russia]] on his mother's.<ref name="Lennon thesis">{{cite web |url=http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=appadoc |title=Lennon, Elaine: The screenplays of Robert Towne 1960-2000. Dublin Institute of Technology, 2009 |access-date=2013-06-14 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724102857/http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=appadoc |url-status=live }}</ref> He had a younger brother, Roger,<ref name="ERRB" /> who co-wrote the 1984 film ''[[The Natural (film)|The Natural]]'' starring [[Robert Redford]].<ref name="AFI">{{AFI film|67313|title=The Natural}}</ref>

He graduated from [[Pomona College]] in [[Claremont, California|Claremont]], [[California]], studying philosophy and literature.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Robert Towne Page | publisher = SuperiorPics.com | url = http://www.superiorpics.com/robert_towne/ | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130203074827/http://www.superiorpics.com/robert_towne/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 February 2013 | access-date = April 13, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="guardian obit">[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jul/03/robert-towne-obituary Robert Towne obituary: American screenwriter and director best known for the hit films Chinatown, The Last Detail and Shampoo] ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved July 14, 2024.</ref> After college, Towne served in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] before doing odd jobs including working as a tuna fisherman.<ref name="guardian obit"/>