Robert Altman Biography (1925-)

Full name, Robert Bernard Altman; born February 20, 1925, in Kansas City, MO;son of Bernard Clement "B. C." (in insurance sales) and Helen (maiden name,Matthews) Altman; married LaVonne Elmer (a telephone operator), 1947 (divorced, 1949); married Lotus Corelli, 1954 (divorced, c. 1957); married Kathryn Reed (a nightclub entertainer), 1959; children: (first marriage) Christine Altman Westphal; (second marriage) Michael, Stephen (a production designer); (third marriage) Konni Corriere (stepdaughter), Robert (a camera operator), Matthew (adopted; a theatrical properties specialist). Addresses: Agent: International Creative Management, 8942 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1934.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Director, producer, writer
Birth Details: February 20, 1925; Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Director
Modern Football, 1951
King Basketball, 1952
The Last Mile, 1953
Better Football, 1954
The Builders (industrial film), 1954
The Perfect Crime, 1955
(And producer) The Delinquents, United Artists, 1957
(And producer, with George W. George; and editor) The James Dean Story (documentary), Warner Bros., 1957
The Party (short film), 1964
Pot au feu (short film), 1965
The Kathryn Reed Story (short film), 1965
Countdown (documentary), Warner Bros., 1968
That Cold Day in the Park, Commonwealth United, 1969
M*A*S*H, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1970
Brewster McCloud, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1970
McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Warner Bros., 1971
Images, Columbia, 1972
The Long Goodbye, United Artists, 1973
Thieves Like Us, United Artists, 1974
(And producer, with Joseph Walsh) California Split (also known asJackpot!), Columbia, 1974
(And producer) Nashville, Paramount, 1975
(And producer) Buffalo Bill and the Indians; or, Sitting Bull's History Lesson (also known as Buffalo Bill and the Indians), United Artists, 1976
(And producer) Three Women, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1977
(And producer) A Wedding, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1978
(And producer) Quintet, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979
(And producer) A Perfect Couple, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979
(And producer) Health (also known as H.E.A.L.T.H), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1980
Popeye, Paramount, 1980
The Easter Egg Hunt, 1981
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Cinecom International, 1982
The Diviners, 1983
(And producer, with Nick J. Mileti) Streamers, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1983
(And producer) Secret Honor (also known as Lords of Treason, Secret Honor: The Last Testament of Richard M. Nixon, and SecretHonor: A Political Myth), Cinecom International, 1984
Fool for Love, Cannon, 1985
"Les boreades," Aria, Miramax, 1987
Beyond Therapy, New World, 1987
(And producer) O. C. and Stiggs, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists, 1987
Vincent and Theo (also known as Vincent et Theo), Hemdale Releasing, 1990
The Player, Fine Line, 1992
(And producer, with Scott Bushnell) Short Cuts, Fine Line, 1993
(And producer) Ready to Wear (also known as Pret-a-Porter),Miramax, 1994
(And producer) Kansas City, Fine Line, 1996
The Gingerbread Man, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, 1998
Another City, Not My Own, 1999
(And producer) Cookie's Fortune, October Films, 1999
(And producer) Dr. T & the Women, Artisan Entertainment, 2000
(And producer) Gosford Park, USA Films, 2001
Film Work
Other
Second unit director, The Happening, 1967
Producer, Welcome to L.A., United Artists, 1976
Producer, The Late Show, Warner Bros., 1977
Producer, Remember My Name, Columbia, 1978
Executive producer, Rich Kids, United Artists, 1979
Associate producer, Lily in Love, New Line Cinema, 1985
Producer, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (also known as Mrs. Parker and the Round Table), Miramax, 1995
Producer, Afterglow, Sony Pictures Classics, 1997
Producer, Liv, 1998
Producer, Trixie, Redeemable Features, 1999
Executive producer, Roads and Bridges, 2000
Executive producer, Investigating Sex, 2001
Film Appearances
Man drinking, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, RKO Radio Pictures,1947
Bob, Events, Grove Press, 1970
Hotel manager, Endless Love, Universal, 1981
Hollywood Mavericks, Roxie Releasing, 1990
Television Director

Episodic
Pulse of the City, [Kansas City, MO], 1953-1954
"The Young One," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS, 1957
"Together," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS, 1958
Hawaiian Eye, ABC, 1959
Gun (also known as Robert Altman's Gun), ABC, 1997
Also directed episodes of Bonanza (also known as Ponderosa), NBC; Bronco, ABC; Bus Stop, ABC; Combat!, ABC; TheGale Storm Show (also known as Oh! Susanna); Kraft Mystery Theatre (also known as Kraft Suspense Theatre), NBC; The Lawman, ABC; Maverick, ABC; The Millionaire (also known as If YouHad a Million), CBS; M Squad, NBC; Peter Gunn, NBC/ABC; The Roaring Twenties, ABC; Route 66, CBS; Sugarfoot (also known as Tenderfoot), ABC; Surfside 6, ABC; Troubleshooters, NBC; U.S. Marshal, syndicated; Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (also known as Desilu Playhouse), CBS; and Whirlybirds (alsoknown as Copter Patrol), syndicated.
Pilots
Sam Hill, NBC, 1961
County General, ABC, 1962
The Gallant Men, ABC, 1963
The Long Hot Summer, ABC, 1965
(With Robert Wagner; and producer, with Wagner) A Walk in the Night, CBS, 1968
Specials
(And producer) The Laundromat, HBO, 1985
(And producer) The Dumb Waiter, ABC, 1987
(And producer) The Room (also known as Basements), ABC, 1987
"Black and Blue," Great Performances, PBS, 1993
The Real McTeague: A Synthesis of Forms, PBS, 1993
(And producer) Jazz '34 (also known as Robert Altman's Jazz '34), PBS, 1997
Television Work
Movies
Producer and director, Nightmare in Chicago (also known as OnceUpon a Savage Night), 1964
Director, Precious Blood (also known as Two by South), 1982
Producer and director, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, CBS, 1988
Other
Coproducer, Pulse of the City (series), [Kansas City, MO], 1953-1954
Executive producer and director, Rattlesnake in a Cooler, 1980
Director of additional photography, Peking Encounter, 1981
Producer, Spearfield's Daughter (series), Channel Seven (Sydney, Australia), 1986
Unit production manager, Best of Friends, 1987
Executive producer and director, Tanner '88 (miniseries; also known as Tanner: A Political Fable), HBO, 1988
Director, McTeague, 1992
Creator and executive producer, Gun (series; also known as Robert Altman's Gun), ABC, 1997
Producer of the television series Combat!, ABC.
Television Appearances
Specials
Voice in promotional spot, Before the Nickelodeon: The Early Cinema ofEdwin Porter, 1982
Luck, Trust, and Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver County, Bravo, 1994
Presenter, The 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, TBS, 1995
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies, HBO, 1995
Interviewee, Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, The Learning Channel, 1996
Interviewee, Frank Capra's American Dream, 1997
Interviewee, Robert Downey, Jr.: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 1998
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius (also known as Dial H Hitchcock:The Genius behind the Showman, TCM, 1999
20th Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years, AMC, 2000
The 10th Annual IFP Gotham Awards, Bravo, 2000
The Orange British Academy Film Awards, 2001
Remembering MASH: The 30th Anniversary Cast and Crew Reunion, Fox,2001
Intimate Portrait: Lee Grant, Lifetime, 2001
History vs. Hollywood, History Channel, 2001
Himself (in archive footage), Who Is Alan Smithee?, AMC, 2002
Anatomy of a Scene: Gosford Park, Sundance Channel, 2002
Episodic
American Cinema, PBS, 1995
The Directors, Encore, 1999
Backstory, AMC, 1999
"Robert Altman in England," Omnibus, BBC (England), 2002
Stage Work
Director, "Precious Blood" and "Rattlesnake in a Cooler," Two by South, Actors Theatre, Los Angeles, 1981
Director, Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, Broadway production, 1982
Director, McTeague (opera), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1992
Producer of Streamers, European production.
RECORDINGS
Videos
Himself, Film-Fest DVD: Issue 1--Sundance, Broadcast DVD, 1999
WRITINGS
Screenplays
Christmas Eve (also known as Sinner's Holiday), United Artists, 1947
Corn's-a-Poppin', Crest Productions, 1951
The Delinquents, United Artists, 1955
(With Ring Lardner, Jr.) M*A*S*H (adapted from novel by Richard Hooker), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1970
Brewster McCloud, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1970
(With Brian McKay) McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Warner Bros., 1971
Images, Columbia, 1972
The Long Goodbye (adapted from the novel by Raymond Chandler), United Artists, 1973
(With Calder Willingham and Joan Tewkesbury) Thieves Like Us, United Artists, 1974
California Split (also known as Jackpot!), Columbia, 1974
(With Tewkesbury; and lyricist) Nashville, Paramount, 1975, published by Bantam Books, 1976
(With Alan Rudolph) Buffalo Bill and the Indians; or, Sitting Bull's History Lesson (also known as Buffalo Bill and the Indians), UnitedArtists, 1976, published by Bantam, 1976
Three Women (based on a story by Altman), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1977
(With John Considine, Patricia Resnick, and Allan Nicholls) A Wedding (based on a story by Altman), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1978
(With Frank Barhydt and Patricia Resnick) Quintet, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979
(With Nicholls) A Perfect Couple, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979
(With Barhydt and Paul Dooley) Health (also known as H.E.A.L.T.H.), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1980
"Les boreales," Aria, Miramax, 1987
(With Christopher Durang) Beyond Therapy, New World, 1987
(With Barhydt) Short Cuts (based on the short stories of Raymond Carver), Fine Line, 1993, published by Capra Press, 1993
Ready to Wear (also known as Pret-a-Porter), Miramax, 1994
Kansas City, Fine Line, 1996
(As Al Hayes) The Gingerbread Man, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment,1998
Film Music
Song, "The Way It's Meant to Be," Gosford Park, USA Films, 2001
Television Episodes
Writer for episodes of Combat!, ABC, and Maverick, ABC.
Television Writing
Other
Librettist, McTeague (opera), 1992
Stage Writing
Librettist (with Arnold Weinstein), McTeague (opera), Lyric Operaof Chicago, Chicago, IL, 1992
Other
Author of radio scripts, including Bodyguard. Contributor of stories to magazines.

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

The film Bodyguard, released by RKO Radio Pictures in 1948, was based on a radio play by Altman; the film Gosford Park was based on an idea by Altman.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, Volume 20, Gale, 2000
Feineman, Neil, Persistence of Vision: Films of Robert Altman, Ayer, 1978
Kagan, Norman, American Skeptic: Robert Altman's Genre--Commentary Films, Pierian Press, 1982
Karp, Alan, The Films of Robert Altman, Scarecrow Press (Metuchen,NJ), 1981
Kass, Judith, Robert Altman: American Innovator, Popular Library (New York City), 1978
Keyssar, Helen, Robert Altman's America, Oxford University Press (New York City), 1991
Kolker, Robert Phillip, A Cinema of Loneliness: Penn, Kubrick, Scorsese, Spielberg, Altman, Oxford University Press, 1988
McGilligan, Patrick, Robert Altman: Jumping off the Cliff, St. Martin's Press (New York City), 1989
Newsmakers: The People behind Today's Headlines, 1993 Cumulation,Gale, 1993
O'Brien, Daniel, Robert Altman: Hollywood Survivor, Continuum (NewYork City), 1995
Plecki, Gerard, Robert Altman, Twayne, 1985
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, five volumes, St. JamesPress, 2000
Sterritt, David, editor, Robert Altman: Interviews, University Press of Mississippi, 2000
Stuart, Jan, The Nashville Chronicles: The Making of Robert Altman's Masterpiece, Simon & Schuster (New York City), 2001

Periodicals

Down Beat, March-April, 1994, pp. 21, 24
Empire, Issue 58, 1994, pp. 68-75
Entertainment Weekly, April 16, 1999, pp. 22-24; February 22, 2002, p. 90
Esquire, May, 1992, pp. 86-92
Film Comment, March-April, 1997, pp. 68-71
Guardian, August 17, 1999, p. 12
Mediaweek, September 16, 1996, p. 13
Movieline, December, 2001, p. 24
New York, March 16, 1992, pp. 50-56
People Weekly, March 18, 2002, pp. 109-10, 113-14
Time, April 14, 1997, p. 88
Total Film, September, 1997, pp. 62-65
Urban Cinefile, May 10, 2000
USA Today, May 14, 1999, p. 8E
Washington Post, April 8, 1999, p. C1

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