Biography
Robert Bernard Altman (February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award. His films "MASH" (1970), "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) and "Nashville" (1975) have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Daedalus
2024
as Sampled Interview (voice) (uncredited)
"Fly too high and you will burn, go too low and you won't breathe." Shot in just seven consecutive days during the summer of 2023, it concludes the fi...
Return to Sweethaven: A Look Back With Robin And The Altmans
2020
as Self (archive footage)
A look at the making of Popeye(1980) featuring interviews with Robert Altman, Stephen Altman, and Robin Williams

Nothing Like a Dame
2018
as Self (archive footage)
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen togeth...

Altman
2014
as Self (archive footage)
Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution o...

And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
as Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy ...

What Is Cinema?
2013
as Self
Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, Da...

A Prairie Home Companion
2006
Director, Producer
A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country m...

Elio Petri: Notes About a Filmmaker
2005
as Self
A documentary on the director’s career, featuring interviews with friends, collaborators, and filmmakers.

A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
2005
On May 8th, 1945, writer, director Norman Corwin broadcast ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH, an unforgettable homage to the end of war in Europe. This film shines...
What’s Happened Since ‘88
2004
as Self
A discussion of how the world has changed since Tanner ‘88.
The Politics of Docs
2004
as Self
A look at the subjects of Tanner ‘88 and Tanner on Tanner.
Why Tanner, Why Now?
2004
as Self
A look at the inspiration behind Tanner on Tanner.
Fact & Fiction
2004
as Self
A look at the blending of fact and fiction in Tanner ‘88 and Tanner on Tanner.
On the Set: Alex’s Loft
2004
as Self
A behind the scenes look at the shooting of a scene for Tanner on Tanner.
On the Set: Loews Theater
2004
as Self
A behind the scenes look at the shooting of a scene for Tanner on Tanner.
Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau
2004
as Self
Director Robert Altman and writer Garry Trudeau discuss their collaboration on Tanner ‘88 in a conversation recorded in June 2004.
Looking for Sophia
2004
as Self
Looking for Sophia is a documentary about Loren's remarkable life and career, featuring rare newsreel footage, highlights from her films, and insights...

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession
2004
as Self
A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based...

Words in Progress
2004
Documentary featuring footage from six decades of Cannes Film Festivals.

The Company
2003
Director, Producer
Ensemble drama centered around a group of ballet dancers, with a focus on one young dancer who's poised to become a principal performer.

Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years
2003
as Self
Behind-the-scenes footage, rare screen tests and insightful interviews highlight this engrossing two-hour look at one of Hollywood's greatest dream fa...
Imagining Images
2003
as Self
A made for DVD extras documentary about the making of Robert Altman’s film Images.

A Decade Under the Influence
2003
as Self
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential direc...

The Making of 'Gosford Park'
2002
as Self
A documentary giving film fans a behind-the-scenes look at the making this Robert Altman film about a murder at an English country estate. Includes in...

Robert Altman on 'Rashomon'
2002
as Self
Interview with director Robert Altman about "Rashomon."
Robert Altman in England
2002
as Himself
Robert Altman interviewed during the making of GOSFORD PARK (2001), as well as members of the cast and crew. Also, revealing behind the scenes footage...

Rip Van Marlowe
2002
as Self
Interviews with Robert Altman and Elliott Gould about The Long Goodbye (1973)

Gosford Park
2001
Producer, Director, Idea
In 1930s England, a group of pretentious rich and famous gather together for a weekend of relaxation at a hunting resort. But when a murder occurs, ea...

Dr. T & the Women
2000
Director, Producer
A successful Texas gynecologist finds himself amid a bevy of women and their problems – his wife’s breakdown, his daughter's fake marriage, his other ...

Trixie
2000
Producer
Passed over at work and numbed after she witnesses a colleague's murder, security guard Trixie Zurbo takes a relatively easy job at a lakefront casino...
Enlisted: The Story of 'M*A*S*H'
2000
as Self
A behind the scenes look at the making of the movie M*A*S*H. The documentary reveals all of the chaos, politics, and conflict that was going on behind...

Gun: Fatal Betrayal
2000
Producer
Follows a gun and the different hands it falls into and the different characters that use it.

Altman on His Own Terms
2000
as Self
A look at the life and career of acclaimed independent filmmaker Robert Altman...on his own words. The genius director who shook the cinema industry w...

Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius
1999
as Self
This documentary is a fascinating look at the cinematic genius of Alfred Hitchcock. Briefly covering much of his early British works, the film primari...

Cookie's Fortune
1999
Producer, Director
Conflict arises in the small town of Holly Springs when an old woman's death causes a variety of reactions among family and friends.

Killer App
1998
Director
About battles in the computer world of Seattle.

The Gingerbread Man
1998
Director
A successful Savannah defense attorney gets romantically involved with a sexy, mysterious waitress troubled by psychopaths and dark family secrets.

Afterglow
1997
Producer
Lucky Mann is a builder equally handy at repairs and seduction. The latest housewife to succumb to his charms is Marianne, unhappily married to corpor...

Gun
1997
Director, Executive Producer
Follows a gun and the different hands it falls into and the different characters that use it.

Jazz '34
1997
Director, Producer
A recreation of 1934 Kansas City jazz jam session created by Robert Altman.

Frank Capra's American Dream
1997
as Self
A documentary looking at the life and career of film director Frank Capra. Hosted by Ron Howard.

Kansas City
1996
Writer, Director, Producer
A pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.

Robert Altman: Giggle And Give In
1996
as Self
Paul Joyce’s documentary profile of Robert Altman, with contributions from Altman, Elliott Gould, Shelley Duvall, assistant director Alan Rudolph and ...

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
as Self
Based on the first centenary of the largest exporter of films in the world, that is Hollywood, is the story told by its protagonists, actors and write...

Prêt-à-Porter
1994
Producer, Director, Writer
During Paris Fashion Week, models, designers and industry hot shots gather to work, mingle, argue and try to seduce one another.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
1994
Producer
Dorothy Parker remembers the heyday of the Algonquin Round Table, a circle of friends whose barbed wit, like hers, was fueled by alcohol and flirted w...

Short Cuts
1993
Director, Screenplay
Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot accidentally runs into a bo...

Made in the USA
1993
as Self
A Paul Joyce documentary on the American independent film scene.

Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
1993
as Self
A documentary insight behind the scenes of Roberts Altman's Short Cuts.

Black and Blue: A Musical Revue
1993
Director
The famous rhythm and blues revue featuring such standards as the title song, "After You've Gone" and "In a Sentimental Mood," to name just a few, and...

The Player
1992
Director
A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected - but which one?

Robert Altman's Players
1992
as Self
Behind-the-scenes documentary about a fundraiser which was staged for Robert Altman's film "The Player" (1992).

Vincent & Theo
1990
Director
The tragic story of Vincent van Gogh broadened by focusing as well on his brother Theodore, who helped support Vincent. Based on the letters written b...

Hollywood Mavericks
1990
as Self
A documentary focusing on seventeen maverick directors who were not afraid to break the rules of filmmaking to advance their art. Among the classic di...

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
1988
Director, Producer
A full-length adaptation, originally staged as a play, of the court-martial segment from the novel "The Caine Mutiny".

O.C. and Stiggs
1987
Director, Producer
O.C. and Stiggs aren't your average unhappy teenagers. They not only despise their suburban surroundings, but they also plot against it. They seek rev...

Aria
1987
Writer, Director
Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each s...

Basements
1987
Director, Producer
Basements is the title for the omnibus film that brings together two plays by Harold Pinter – The Dumb Waiter and The Room – each, once again, set in ...

Beyond Therapy
1987
Screenplay, Director
Manhattanites Bruce and Prudence are each looking for a meaningful romantic relationship and have been encouraged by their psychiatrists to find someo...

Fool for Love
1985
Director
A woman is waiting in a motel for her boyfriend, when an old flame turns up and tries to take her back to the life she is trying to leave behind.

The Laundromat
1985
Director
Two lonely women coincide at midnight in a laundromat, where they reveal their secrets.

Secret Honor
1984
Director, Producer
In his New Jersey study, Richard Nixon retraces the missteps of his political career, attempting to absolve himself of responsibility for Watergate an...

Streamers
1983
Director, Producer
Four young recruits about to be sent to Vietnam confront their prejudicial feelings toward one another when it's learned one of them is gay.

Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
1982
Director
On the 20th anniversary of his death, the members of a James Dean fanclub gather at a five-and-dime for a reunion.
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
1982
as Reader - 'Jack And The Beanstalk' Promo (voice)
A documentary overview of the career of silent cinema pioneer Edwin S. Porter.

Precious Blood
1982
Executive Producer, Director
A one act play where a woman and a man share their life stories, till they inter stitch and conflict with each other.

Rattlesnake in a Cooler
1982
Director, Executive Producer
A one act play about a young doctor who ditches his safe middle-class existence to become a cowboy out West. His cowboy fantasy eventually breaks down...

Endless Love
1981
as Hotel Manager
As their romance unfolds, Jade and David's growing love for one another becomes the scorn of Jade's father. However, when Jade's grades begin to drop,...

Popeye
1980
Director
Popeye is a super-strong, spinach-scarfing sailor man who's searching for his father. During a storm that wrecks his ship, Popeye washes ashore and wi...

HealtH
1980
Director, Producer, Writer
At a luxury Florida resort, health food lobbyists choose their new president at their annual convention. As the conference progresses, underhanded tri...

Rich Kids
1979
Executive Producer
Two 12-year-olds, the products of Upper West Side broken homes, struggle to make sense of their parents lives and their own adolescent feelings.

A Perfect Couple
1979
Director, Producer, Writer
An uptight bachelor tries his luck with a computer dating service and gets matched up with his polar opposite.

Quintet
1979
Director, Screenplay, Producer
During a future ice age, dying humanity occupies its remaining time by playing a board game called Quintet. For one small group, this obsession is not...

A Wedding
1978
Director, Screenplay, Story
Muffin's wedding to Dino Corelli is to be a big affair. Except the ageing priest isn't too sure of the ceremony, only the families actually turn up as...

Remember My Name
1978
Producer
Just released from prison, a young woman arrives in town to "start a new life," but soon begins stalking a married construction worker for no apparent...

3 Women
1977
Producer, Writer, Director
Two co-workers, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship after becoming roommates.

The Late Show
1977
Producer
Over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered bro...

Welcome to L.A.
1976
Producer
The lives of a group of Hollywood neurotics intersect over the Christmas holidays. Foremost among them, a songwriter visits Los Angeles to work on a s...

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
1976
Screenstory, Director, Producer
Buffalo Bill plans to put on his own Wild West sideshow, and Chief Sitting Bull has agreed to appear in it. However, Sitting Bull has his own hidden a...

Nashville
1975
Director, Producer
The intersecting stories of twenty-four characters—from country star to wannabe to reporter to waitress—connect to the music business in Nashville, Te...

California Split
1974
Director, Producer
Carefree single guy Charlie Waters rooms with two lovely prostitutes, Barbara Miller and Susan Peters, and lives to gamble. Along with his glum bettin...

Thieves Like Us
1974
Director, Screenplay
Three criminals escape from prison and embark on a robbery spree across USA. Along the way, one of them falls in love while they plan a final heist be...

The Long Goodbye
1973
as Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

The Long Goodbye
1973
Director
In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

Images
1972
Director, Screenplay
While holidaying in Ireland, a pregnant children's author finds her mental state becoming increasingly unstable, resulting in paranoia, hallucinations...

McCabe & Mrs. Miller
1971
Director, Screenplay
A gambler and a prostitute become thriving business partners in a remote Old West mining town until a large corporation arrives on the scene.

Brewster McCloud
1970
Director
Brewster is an owlish, intellectual boy who lives in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome. He has a dream: to take flight within the confines of...

M*A*S*H
1970
Director
The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

Events
1970
as Bob
Sexuality without pretense gives the wallop to Events. A dramatic street story of young runaway flower-kids in the Greenwich Village of 1968, it raise...

That Cold Day in the Park
1969
Director
Frances Austen, a young, wealthy spinster, invites a mute teenager into her apartment after finding him freezing in the park next to where she lives. ...

Countdown
1967
Director
Desperate to land a man on the moon before Russia does, NASA hastily preps a would-be spaceman for a mission that would leave him alone in a lunar she...

The Happening
1967
Second Unit Director
A group of young drifters kidnap wealthy businessman Roc Delmonico just for kicks. They keep him captive, demanding a ransom for his safe release. How...

The Kathryn Reed Story
1965
as Himself
Robert Altman recounts the life of his wife Kathryn Reed, using the format of a documentary, with funny reenactments played by Reed's friends and fami...

The Kathryn Reed Story
1965
Director
Robert Altman recounts the life of his wife Kathryn Reed, using the format of a documentary, with funny reenactments played by Reed's friends and fami...

Pot au feu
1964
Director
Short humorous snippets of marijuana use.

Nightmare in Chicago
1964
Director, Producer
The story of a serial killer known as "Georgie Porgie." The Chicago turnpike is threatened over a three-day period as the police try to catch him by b...

The Party
1963
Director
A "home movie" by Robert Altman shot at his house in Mandeville Canyon.

The Long Lost Life of Edward Smalley
1963
Director
20 years after a Second World War court-martial, a vet pulls a gun on the ruthless attorney who defended him, when the cynical mouthpiece, who doesn't...

The James Dean Story
1957
Director, Editor, Producer
Released two years after James Dean's death, this documentary chronicles his short life and career via black-and-white still photographs, interviews w...

The Delinquents
1957
Director, Writer, Producer
A clean-cut teenager ends up joining a neighborhood gang when the father of the girl he likes refuses to allow his daughter to date him because she is...

Corn's-a-Poppin'
1956
Writer
A popcorn company hopes to boost sales with a live TV program featuring Western swing music, but the hustler hired to assemble the production is secre...
The Magic Bond
1956
Director
The Veterans of Foreign Wars as a fraternal and social organization, with emphasis on their projects that benefit community life and cohesion.

The Model's Handbook
1956
Director
A promotional film for Ford's Model Agency, directed by Robert Altman, as a potential television pilot.

The Perfect Crime
1955
Writer, Director
In this short National Safety Council film, the perfect crime is presented as excess speed. Accidents at high speed often results in deaths and are ra...

The Dirty Look
1954
Director
The Dirty Look is a 1954 comedy-short film, directed by Robert Altman, with Leonard Belove and William Frawley. Duration 24 minutes. This 1954 film wa...

The Sound of Bells
1952
Director
1952 Robert Altman short film

Modern Football
1951
Director
Robert Altman's first film was this 26-minute short, which has a football coach explaining how to play the sport. This is basically an educational sho...

Bodyguard
1948
Story
A cop on suspension is framed for murder when he noses in on a murder investigation.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947
as Man Drinking (uncredited)
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream b...
24 Tracks: Robert Altman's Nashville
N/A
as Himself
NEW! 24 Tracks: Robert Altman's Nashville (1080p, 15:56): Exploring the script's complexity, story development, characters, cast and performances, sto...