Robert Bernard Altman (1925–2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. A five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director, he was an enduring figure from the “New Hollywood” era and one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in American cinema.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Altman was a wartime bomber pilot and a trained engineer. He worked on industrial documentaries before directing his first feature film, The Delinquents (1957.) He became active in television and established himself with the critical and commercial success of M*A*S*H (1970,) an antiwar black comedy set in the Korean War.
Altman is renowned for his use of multi-track sound, overlapping dialogue, and kaleidoscopic narratives. His films include McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971,) The Long Goodbye (1973) and Nashville (1975.)
After a lull in his career during the 1980s, Altman returned to critical and popular acclaim with the television drama Tanner (1988) and the Hollywood satire The Player (1992; BAFTA Best Director.) Later films include Short Cuts (1993,) Kansas City (1996,) Dr. T & The Women (2000,) and Gosford Park (2001.) His final film was A Prairie Home Companion (2006,) based on Garrison Keillor’s popular radio series.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Robert Altman
To play it safe is not to play.
—Robert Altman
Topics: Risk
What is a cult? It just means not enough people to make a minority.
—Robert Altman
Topics: Religion
The role of the director is to create a space where the actor or actress can become more than they’ve ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.
—Robert Altman
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