Robert Altman

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Altman was born on February 20, 1925, in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Helen and Bernard Clement Altman. He was educated at Jesuit schools, including Rockhurst High School, and graduated from Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri in 1943. Soon after graduation, he joined the United States Army Air Forces at age 18. During World War II, he flew more than 50 bombing missions as a co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator with the 307th Bomb Group in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies. Upon his discharge in 1947 he moved to California. He entered filmmaking on a whim, selling a script to RKO for the 1948 picture Bodyguard, which he co-wrote with George W. George. He returned to Kansas City in 1949 and accepted a job as a director and writer of industrial films for the Calvin Company, directing some 65 industrial films and documentaries there. Through this early work, he experimented with narrative technique and developed his characteristic use of overlapping dialogue. In 1956 he wrote and directed his first feature, The Delinquents, made for $60,000 and purchased by United Artists for $150,000. He co-directed The James Dean Story (1957). Alfred Hitchcock then hired Altman to direct for his CBS anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Over the next decade Altman worked prolifically in television, directing multiple episodes of series including Whirlybirds, Bonanza, Combat!, and Route 66. In 1969 he was offered the script for M*A*S*H, an adaptation of a Korean War-era novel. M*A*S*H won the Palme d'Or at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival and netted five Academy Award nominations. It was Altman's highest-grossing film. He followed with McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Long Goodbye (1973), California Split (1974), Thieves Like Us (1974), and Nashville (1975). In 1970, following the release of M*A*S*H, he founded Lion's Gate Films to have independent production freedom. He directed the HBO political mockumentary miniseries Tanner '88 (1988), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. On stage, he directed the Broadway revival of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1981) and later the 1982 film of the same name. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized Altman's body of work with an Academy Honorary Award. He died that same year at the age of 81.

Reader's Guide

Robert Altman is recognized as a key figure of the New Hollywood era, known for his subversive and satirical films that often employed overlapping dialogue and large ensemble casts. He was nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Director: for the war comedy M*A*S*H (1970), the musical film Nashville (1975), the Hollywood satire The Player (1992), the dark comedy Short Cuts (1993), and the murder mystery Gosford Park (2001). His films M*A*S*H, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, and Nashville have been selected for the United States National Film Registry. Altman is one of five filmmakers whose films have won the Golden Bear at Berlin, the Golden Lion at Venice, and the Palme d'Or at Cannes (the other four being Henri-Georges Clouzot, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Luc Godard, and Jafar Panahi). His work on television includes the HBO miniseries Tanner '88, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, and the HBO television film The Laundromat (1985). On stage, he directed the West End revival of Arthur Miller's penultimate play Resurrection Blues (2006). Altman's legacy is marked by his consistent refusal to conform to industry norms, resulting in a body of work that remains influential in American cinema.

Did You Know?

• Altman flew more than 50 bombing missions as a co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator during World War II.
• He directed some 65 industrial films and documentaries for the Calvin Company, where he developed his characteristic use of overlapping dialogue.
• His first feature, The Delinquents (1957), was made for $60,000 and sold to United Artists for $150,000.
• M*A*S*H (1970) was Altman's highest-grossing film and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.
• Despite seven competitive Academy Award nominations, Altman never won a competitive Oscar; he received an Academy Honorary Award in 2006.

Gallery