LOS ANGELES, CA — Directors Guild of America President Michael Apted made the following statement on the passing of legendary director and DGA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Robert Altman:
"Bob embodied the directors’ ideal, a fiercely independent voice that was always challenging convention. In doing so, he created a body of work of breathtaking diversity. His distinctive style and passion inspired filmmakers and audiences worldwide. He’s a particular hero of mine, one of the great American directors and a wonderful, generous man. The DGA is saddened by his passing but we are forever grateful for his contributions to the craft and community of directors. Our members, throughout the world, expressed their appreciation of his cinematic excellence by giving him our highest honor, the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award."
About Robert Altman
Filmmaker Robert Altman is acclaimed for his vibrant, freewheeling films that stretch the boundaries of the medium. In the 1950s in his native Kansas City, he began making industrial and documentary films at the Calvin Company. His feature directorial debut, made in Kansas City, was the teenage gang drama The Delinquents (1957). He next co-directed the documentary feature The James Dean Story (1957). Altman then spent several years directing episodes of top television series, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Millionaire, Bonanza, and Kraft Suspense Theatre.
Returning his focus to feature films, he directed the taut space drama Countdown (1968) and the thriller That Cold Day in the Park (1969). His next film, M*A*S*H (1970) won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival; was a global boxoffice smash; and firmly established Altman as a major American director.
In the years that followed, his films successfully explored such diverse themes as pulp noir (by inventively reworking Raymond Chandler in The Long Goodbye [1973]); the Depression (Thieves Like Us [1974]); the communion of two male gamblers on a spree (California Split [1974]); and haunting explorations of the interior lives of women (Images [1972] and 3 Women [1977]).
With Nashville (1975), Altman displayed his talent for braiding the stories of a large ensemble cast. This approach has also characterized a number of his other films, including A Wedding (1978); Short Cuts (1993); Pret-a-Porter/Ready to Wear (1994); and the U.K. period mystery Gosford Park (2001). Other films include the popular film-industry odyssey The Player (1992); cinematic homages to music (the gangster-themed Kansas City [1996] and its documentary companion piece, Robert Altman's Jazz '34: Remembrances of Kansas City Swing [1997]); and, most recently, contemporary comedies of Southern manners (Cookie's Fortune [1999] and Dr. T and the Women [2000]).In addition to most of his own films, Altman's producing credits include five films directed by Alan Rudolph: Welcome to L.A. (1977), Remember My Name (1978), Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Afterglow (1997), and Trixie (2000); Robert Benton's The Late Show (1977); and Robert M. Young's Rich Kids (1979).
2006 saw the release of Altman's final film, an adaptation of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion starring Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan and Virginia Madsen.
Altman received the following awards and honors from the Guild:
- DGA Lifetime Achievement Award – 1994
- DGA Honors Recipient – New York, 2003
- 2004 Nomination: DGA Award for Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television for Tanner on Tanner (Parts I-IV)
- 1992 Nomination: DGA Award for Directorial Achievement In Motion Pictures for The Player
- 1975 Nomination: DGA Award for Directorial Achievement In Motion Pictures for Nashville
- 1970 Nomination: DGA Award for Directorial Achievement In Motion Pictures for M*A*S*H
