Robert Towne, the Hollywood writer whose Chinatown script is often described as the greatest screenplay ever written, has died at 89. The Oscar winner, whose credits also include The Last Detail and Shampoo, and the first two Mission: Impossible films, passed away at home in Los Angeles, publicist Carri McClure told AFP.

Towne was a leading figure of the 1970s New Hollywood movement. Several classics benefited from Towne's input, despite his name being absent from their writing credits. Most famously these included Bonnie and Clyde and The Godfather.

For The Godfather, Towne received a shout-out from the Oscars stage as Francis Ford Coppola accepted the best screenplay prize for his gangster classic. Coppola offered "credit where it is due" for "the very beautiful scene between Marlon [Brando] and Al Pacino in the garden – that was Bob Towne's scene."

That propelled Towne into the New Hollywood firmament, and remarkable success followed. At his peak, Towne was nominated for screenplay Oscars three years in a row during the mid-1970s, winning for Chinatown. The film features Jack Nicholson as a 1930s private detective, whose investigation into a cheating husband uncovers a world of Los Angeles corruption.