Director Robert Altman Dies at 81

Robert Altman, one of Hollywood's best and most prolific, original directors, died on Monday, November 20th at the age of 81. The cause of death has not been revealed.

Altman was considered a Hollywood outsider having made a career out of bucking the system and making films his own way. While filming his breakthrough movie, "MASH," he was constantly being bombarded with memos from the studio whenever they would get word of something Altman was doing that they didn't approve of. Instead of arguing with them, Altman took the memos and incorporated them into the movie in scenes where there were announcements coming over the loudspeaker. The memos were read verbatim.

Altman was a seven time Academy Award nominee, earning five for best director for "MASH," "Nashville," "The Player," "Short Cuts," and "Gosford Park." Altman is the most nominated director (tied with Alfred Hitchcock, Clarence Brown, King Vidor and Martin Scorsese) to never win the Oscar. His other two nominations came as producer of "Nashville" and "Gosford Park."

Just this past February Altman was honored for lifetime achievement at the Academy Awards. When accepting Altman remarked, "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. My love for filmmaking has given me an entree to the world and to the human condition." As he did in his movies, Altman threw a curve to the audience when he admitted he had had a heart transplant in the late 1990's. He chose not to reveal it publicly for fear of never being hired again. Due to his age and health, studios required that another director be on the set of Altman's last two films, "The Company," (2003), and "A Prairie Home Companion," (2006), on standby in case Altman was unable to finish the picture.