Seven-time Oscar nominee Robert Altman, director of such memorable films as Nashville, Gosford Park, The Player, and M*A*S*H, died Monday night in Los Angeles. He was 81.
Known for films with wry, free-flowing dialogue, Altman was a favorite among actors, as this clip of Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep — presenting Altman with a lifetime achievement Oscar last February — makes abundantly clear.
To get Altman’s own take on his long and storied career, check out Missy Schwartz’s EW profile of Altman from this past summer, right before the director released his final film, A Prairie Home Companion. In it, Altman said he woke up most mornings facing the idea of death, but it hadn’t seemed to slow his zest for his work.
Perhaps that’s because Altman remained staunchly uncompromising throughout his career. A remark the director made while accepting his Oscar, quoted here in his New York Times obituary, sums up his philosophy rather nicely. "No other filmmaker has gotten a better shake than I have. I’m very fortunate in my career. I’ve never had to direct a film I didn’t choose or develop," he said. "My love for filmmaking has given me an entree to the world and to the human condition."
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That is so incredibly sad.
He was a great talent and movie maker.
A talented man but a liberal through-in-through. Typical hollywood guy now bit the dust.
Ross-
We don’t need insensitive remarks like yours. The man died, for godsakes. He was a great director who served as a link to a time when filmmaking was exactly that, making a film through character, story and atmosphere. He was an underappreciated giant of the art of film. His work resonates in the likes of Tarantino, Almodavar, Scorsese, and Spike Lee, filmmakers who understand that special effects don’t make great films, stories and people do.
As far back as i can remember, Robert Altman was one of my main inspirations to become a filmmaker..
Tonite, i shall watch ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, then poor my 40 oz. on the ground for him..
Thank you, Bob!!
You are loved and will be missed..
Altman was the absolute king. He has been my hero since the sumemr of 1987 when my cousin showed me A Wedding, Nashville, and MASH. The nice thing about being an artist is that you’re a little more immortal than the rest of us: The movies are still there and they always will be.
Robert Altman is my favorite director. Shame on Ross Blankert, who labels him as a “liberal,” which is so shallow and ridiculous. “A talented man but a liberal through in through?” You need help, my friend. Bob Altman will be missed greatly, and his talent was as big as the whole wide world. Favorite Altman film: NASHVILLE Runner up: THIEVES LIKE US.
Rest in peace, Bob!
How ignorant…what does being a liberal have to do with him being a great filmmaker? I can seperate the artist from his politics, personally. I was really sadded to hear the news…Short Cuts is one of my favorite films, it’s one of the first that I saw where I went, wow…a director is really an artist.
“Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.” Emily Dickinson.
Through his art, talent,vision and humanity he has become truly immortal. Good Night Mr. Altman.
Hi Anna!
I knew who this man was : )
I was just thinking about “Nashville” yesterday, while I was driving to work, about how everyone I saw it with hated it, how I hadn’t had anyone to talk about how concussed I felt after watching it.
No matter what the subject matter, or how successful, Robert Altman’s movies made me think–and feel. And that’s got to be the best thing any film can do.
If I’d been an actor, I would have worked for him for nothing.
I got the great pleasure of meeting Robert Altman when he stayed at The Driskill hotel in Austin, TX for a film festival. The morons who I worked with had booked him in a standard room and the smallest one we had, at that. When he came to the desk to get directions to a theater, I apologized about the room and offered to upgrade him to a suite. He looked a little bashful and insisted he was perfectly happy in the room he had and thanked me. He was so friendly and just seemed like “a regular guy”. Trust me, it is a rare treat to meet someone as important as he was that who doesn’t buy into the hype about themselves and expect to be treated differently. He will be missed.
Altman was a truly great director and this in very sad news.
Even though he had other projects in the works, however, I really think that “A Prairie Home Companion” was an amazing film to go out on. It in itself was a meditation on the fear and acceptance of death, and the final scene of that film is a haunting visualization of that whole idea.
Film will definately miss him, and so will his fans.
Altman made four or five truly mind-blowing films. McCabe and Mrs. Miller and MASH are certainly among them. I would put The Long Goodbye up at the top, even above Nashville which is a tad dated. His output in the ’80s was a tad soft, but he did make one brilliant film, Vincent & Theo. And late in life he made an exquisite, Renoir-esque piece, Gosford Park. Even A Prairie Home Companion, a lesser work, demonstrates that his command of technique far outstrips that of most of today’s younger directors.
http://slam-cut.blogspot.com
“typical hollywood guy”??? you obviously dont know who robert altman was OR what hollywood is. in case you need a reminder, rent The Player.
He’ll definitely be missed. I know that when people think of Altman, films like Nashville, MASH, The Player and others come to mind, but I didn’t think Popeye was as bad as the critics thought. Maybe because I was just eleven when it first came out, but I thought it was a good movie.
I remember LOVING Popeye as a young kid and because of that, I still really enjoy it today. I think it was a victim of expectation. It was never going to be as good as people expected. It’s no “A Wedding” or “Nashville” or “The Player”, but still one of my favorites. If for no other reason, Shelley Duvall singing, “He’s Large”.
My husband’s grandfather served with him in WWII in the Pacific and always talks about what a great guy he was. He will be greatly missed.
Now, let’s go TP Old Man Blankert’s house.
While MASH and Nashville are so obviously among the greatest American films ever made, and while The Player and Gosford Park are proof of the expansiveness of Altman’s talents, I still don’t think I will ever see an ending to a movie that can come anywhere close to being as amazing as the end of MacCabe & Mrs. Miller. Today is a sad day, but also a day to celebrate this phenomenal artist and man. The last fifteen minutes of MacCabe make it all worthwhile. Hopefully the fact that these kinds of moments bring so much fulfillment to Altman fans such as myself comes as a comfort to his family and friends.
Two of my favorite scenes are the end of Nashville and the opening of the Player.
Even his lesser movies are great to watch because of the space that’s filled. There is all of the overlapping dialogue, just like life.
Altman didn’t need to layer his films to get his story across. But then, it wouldn’t be an Robert Altman film.
It’s a shame there won’t be more.
Altman wasn’t the typical hollywood guy, whoever said that nonsense.
He worked himself to his death (and on borrowed time no less, considering it’s been a decade since he had a heart transplant). Most “typical hollywood” guys would have retired twenty years before the age at which Altman died, ESPECIALLY after getting a new heart.
But no…Altman continued to work, and stomached the likes of Lindsay Lohan. Let’s just say he deserved an Oscar LONG BEFORE he actually got the Pity Oscar.
What kind of an ignorant comment is it to call Altman a “typical hollywood” guy? *rolls eyes*
May he, R.I.P.
One of my favorite movies of all times was his’ “Short Cuts”. Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Mathew Modine, Anne Archer were excellent in it.
Very talented, my favorite movie of his was Gosford Park. I really hated his dismissiveness toward the tv show MASH, but aside from that, I loved his general attitude toward Hollywood, he was hardly a “typical Hollywood guy”.
And Ross, I suppose you could dismiss anybodie’s death with a meaningless generalality if you want. For example, if Rush Limbaugh were to suddenly die from a drug overdose, someone could say that he was talented, but a right winger through and through, typical talk radio figure bites the dust. See how easy that was.
One of the greatest directors of all time. The fact that he was working till the very end is astounding to me. I think he’ll go down in history as America’s Ingmar Bergman.
As a part of a book I’ve been working on for twenty-four years (featuring interviews with the world’s greatest art-film directors), I immediately chose Altman to represent America, back in 1982, and interviewed him at his home in southern California at that time. We did two more brief interviews in the years that followed, and then, earlier this month, I did the final update for the book. I should have suspected something when he asked if he could do it lying down and resting, but that’s what we did–and when I asked him if he had a future project in mind, he said, without hesitation ,that he was already working on the new film and told me briefly and excitedly about it. Out of the 60 films by Altman that I’ve seen, my favorites would probably still be THREE WOMEN, NASHVILLE, and McCABE AND MRS. MILLER. He was a dear man, and I will miss him and his work very much.
Sad news – he made so many good movies. I just saw “Prairie Home Companion” on DVD the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it. But as a former dancer, my personal fave Altman is “The Company,” not necessarily because it’s his best, but because it’s the best of the ballet films out there. Thanks, Mr. Altman…
NASHVILLE was the film that turned me from a casual movie viewer to a cinephile. In the years since discovering it, I’ve seen just about every film that Robert Altman made and, while some were certainly better than others, there wasn’t one in which I didn’t find something intriguing. I’m glad the Academy finally got around to honoring him last year — especially after blowing their golden opportunity to do so with GOSFORD PARK. Altman changed the face of American cinema and has left behind an incredible film legacy. My deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
Goodbye, Robert Altman.
“Nashville” is the greatest artistic representation of America ever made, and he understood it better than anyone.
That was very harsh, Ross Blankert.
I’m yet to see any of his films, though. In the mean time, RIP Bob.
Only in America would someone (like Ross Blankert) use ‘liberal’ to slag someone who’s died…get over it.
He was already my favourite at Short Cuts, Gosford Park and A Prairie Home Companion (my 3 year old daughter couldn’t get enough of the performances)….to read that he also directed Vincent & Theo concludes in my mind that he is a true artistic genius…it is such a shame to loose someone so talented and someone who has so much to contribute to our society. He is sooooo missed already……