# Robert Altman filmography

Robert Altman was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era. His films are known for having satirical themes, unexpected quirks, with overlapping and improvised dialogue. He has deconstructed classic film genres like Westerns, crime dramas, musicals and classic whodunits. He has worked with frequent collaborators such as actors Shelley Duvall, Elliott Gould, René Auberjonois, Henry Gibson and Lily Tomlin. Over his career he received five Oscar nominations winning the Honorary Academy Award in 2005.
Altman made his directorial film debut with The Delinquents (1957) and gained his career breakthrough with war comedy M*A*S*H (1970) for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. Robert then earned critical acclaim for western drama McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), the musical film Nashville (1975), and the psychological thriller 3 Women (1977). During this time he also directed a string of counter cultural genre films such as the black comedy Brewster McCloud (1970), the neo-noir The Long Goodbye (1973), the comedy-drama California Split (1974), the crime film Thieves Like Us (1974), the revisionist western Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), and the satirical comedy-drama A Wedding (1978).
He then directed the musical comedy Popeye (1980) which was a financial success but received a mixed reception. The films which followed become more sporadic with a career fluctuations. Roger Ebert stated of Altman's career that he "insisted on expressing a distinct personal vision that made him the hottest director of the 1970s but not the 1980s". During this time he directed the comedy-drama Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), the play adaptation Streamers (1983), and the historical drama Secret Honor (1984). He received a career resurgence earning Academy Award for Best Director nominations for the Hollywood mystery The Player (1992), the dark comedy Short Cuts (1993), and the murder mystery Gosford Park (2001). He also directed Vincent & Theo (1990), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), The Company (2003), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).

## Film
### Features

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
| 1948 | Bodyguard | No | Story | No |
| 1957 | The James Dean Story | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1957 | The Delinquents | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1968 | Countdown | Yes | No | No |
| 1969 | That Cold Day in the Park | Yes | No | No |
| 1970 | M*A*S*H | Yes | No | No |
| 1970 | Brewster McCloud | Yes | No | No |
| 1971 | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1972 | Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1973 | The Long Goodbye | Yes | No | No |
| 1974 | Thieves Like Us | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1974 | California Split | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1975 | Nashville | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1976 | Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1977 | 3 Women | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1978 | A Wedding | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1979 | Quintet | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1979 | A Perfect Couple | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1980 | HealtH | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1980 | Popeye | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1982 | Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean | Yes | No | No |
| 1983 | Streamers | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1984 | Secret Honor | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1985 | Fool for Love | Yes | No | No |
| 1986 | O.C. and Stiggs | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1987 | Beyond Therapy | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1990 | Vincent & Theo | Yes | No | No |
| 1992 | The Player | Yes | No | No |
| 1993 | Short Cuts | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1994 | Prêt-à-Porter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1996 | Kansas City | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1998 | The Gingerbread Man | Yes | No | No |
| 1999 | Cookie's Fortune | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2000 | Dr. T & the Women | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2001 | Gosford Park | Yes | Idea | Yes |
| 2003 | The Company | Yes | No | Yes |
| 2006 | A Prairie Home Companion | Yes | No | Yes |
* ↑ Also credited as editor
Producer only
* Welcome to L.A. (1976)
* The Late Show (1977)
* Remember My Name (1978)
* Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
* Afterglow (1997)
* Trixie (2000)
Executive producer
* Rich Kids (1979)
* Roads and Bridges (2001)
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1947 | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Man Drinking | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Bodyguard | Man Drinking | Uncredited |
| 1970 | Events | Bob | |
| 1973 | The Long Goodbye | Ambulance Driver | Uncredited |
| 1981 | Endless Love | Hotel Manager | |

### Short film

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Editor | Notes |
| 1950 | Honeymoon for Harriet | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 1952 | The Sound of Bells | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1952 | King Basketball | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1954 | The Dirty Look | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1955 | The Perfect Crime | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1955 | Corn's-A-Poppin | No | Yes | No | |
| 1956 | The Magic Bond | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1964 | The Party | Yes | No | No | |
| 1965 | The Katherine Reed Story | Yes | No | No | |
| 1967 | Pot au feu | Yes | No | No | Player |
| 1987 | Les Boréades | Yes | Yes | Yes | Segment of Aria |
Producer
* Liv (1993)
Documentary short
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Editor |
| 1951 | Modern Football | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1953 | The Last Mile | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1953 | How To Run a Filling Station | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1953 | Modern Baseball | No | No | Yes |
| 1954 | Better Football | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1954 | The Builders | Yes | Yes | No |

## Television

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 1953 | Pulse of the City | Yes | Yes | No | Episode "The Case of Capt. Denning" |
| 1957–58 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Yes | No | No | Episodes "The Young One" and "Together" |
| 1958 | M Squad | Yes | No | No | Episode "Lover's Lane Killing" |
| 1959 | Hawaiian Eye | Yes | No | No | Episode "Three Tickets to Lani" |
| 1958–59 | The Millionaire | Yes | Yes | No | 13 episodes |
| 1958–59 | Whirlybirds | Yes | No | No | 20 episodes |
| 1959–60 | Sugarfoot | Yes | No | No | 2 episodes |
| 1959–60 | Troubleshooters | Yes | Yes | No | 14 episodes |
| 1959–60 | U.S. Marshal | Yes | No | No | 15 episodes |
| 1960 | The Gale Storm Show | Yes | No | No | Episode "It's Magic" |
| 1960 | Bronco | Yes | No | No | Episode "The Mustangers" |
| 1960 | Maverick | Yes | Yes | No | Episode "Bolt from the Blue" |
| 1960–61 | The Roaring 20's | Yes | No | No | 9 episodes |
| 1960–61 | Bonanza | Yes | No | No | 8 episodes |
| 1961 | Lawman | Yes | No | No | Episode "The Robbery" |
| 1961 | Surfside 6 | Yes | No | No | Episode "Thieves Among Honor" |
| 1961 | Peter Gunn | Yes | No | No | Episode "The Murder Bond" |
| 1961 | Route 66 | Yes | No | No | Episode "Some of the People, Some of the Time" |
| 1961–62 | Bus Stop | Yes | Yes | No | 8 episodes |
| 1962 | Cain's Hundred | Yes | No | No | Episode "The Left Side of Canada" |
| 1962 | Kraft Television Theatre | Yes | No | No | 3 episodes |
| 1962 | The Gallant Men | Yes | No | No | Episode "Pilot" |
| 1962–63 | Combat! | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10 episodes |
| 1963–64 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 episodes |
| 1965 | The Long, Hot Summer | Yes | No | No | Episode "The Long, Hot Summer" |
| 1968 | Premiere | Yes | Yes | Yes | Episode "Walk in the Sky" |
| 1977 | Saturday Night Live | Yes | No | No | Episode "Sissy Spacek/Richard Baskin" (Segment "Sissy's Role") |
| 1988 | Tanner '88 | Yes | No | Executive | Miniseries |
| 1993–97 | Great Performances | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3 episodes |
| 1993 | Gun | Yes | No | Executive | Episode "All the President's Women" |
| 2004 | Tanner on Tanner | Yes | No | Executive | 4 episodes |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director | Producer |
| 1962 | Rattlesnake in a Cooler | Yes | Executive |
| 1962 | Precious Blood | Yes | Executive |
| 1964 | Nightmare in Chicago | Yes | Yes |
| 1985 | The Laundromat | Yes | No |
| 1987 | Basements | Yes | Yes |
| 1988 | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | Yes | Yes |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Author | Venue |
| 1952 | Hope Is the Thing with Feathers | Richard Harrity | Resident Theatre, Kansas City |
| 1981 | 2 By South | Frank South | Los Angeles Actors' Theater |
| 1981 | 2 By South | Frank South | St. Clement's Theater, New York City |
| 1982 | Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean | Ed Graczyk | Martin Beck Theater, Broadway |
| 1983 | The Rake's Progress | Igor Stravinsky | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 1987 | The Rake's Progress | Igor Stravinsky | Opéra de Lille, Lille |
| 1992 | McTeague | William Bolcom | Lyric Opera of Chicago, World premiere |
| 2004 | A Wedding | William Bolcom | Lyric Opera of Chicago, World premiere |
| 2006 | Resurrection Blues | Arthur Miller | Old Vic Theatre, London |

## Music video

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1966 | "Girl Talk" | Bobby Troup |
| 1966 | "The Party" | Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass |
| 1966 | "Speak Low" | Lili St. Cyr |
| 1966 | "Ebb Tide" | Lili St. Cyr |

## Unrealized projects

| Year | Title and description |
| 1960s | Death, Where is Thy Sting-a-ling-ling?, retitled from The Chicken and the Hawk |
| 1970s | The Extra, a film about Hollywood bit players starring Lily Tomlin |
| 1970s | 92 in the Shade |
| 1970s | North Dallas Forty |
| 1970s | A film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Breakfast of Champions written by Alan Rudolph starring Burt Lancaster |
| 1970s | Ragtime |
| 1970s | The Y.I.G. Epoxy, a film adaptation of Robert Grossbach's novel Easy and Hard Ways Out written by Alan Rudolph starring Peter Falk, Sterling Hayden and Henry Gibson |
| 1980s | Vicksburg, a drama set during the American Civil War |
| 1980s | A film adaptation of James McLure's one-act play Lone Star starring Sigourney Weaver |
| 1980s | A film adaptation of Marsha Norman's play The Holdup |
| 1980s | A film adaptation of Jim Leonard, Jr.'s two-act play The Diviners starring William Hurt |
| 1980s | A film adaptation of Thomas Berger's novel The Feud written by Jim Leonard, Jr. |
| 1980s | Biarritz, a film set in a European hotel for wealthy vacationers written by Robert Harders starring Jon Voight |
| 1980s | A film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel Across the River and Into the Trees written by Robert Harders starring Roy Scheider and Julie Christie |
| 1980s | Heat |
| 1980s | Nashville 12, a sequel to Nashville written by Robert Harders set twelve years later |
| 1980s | Rossini! Rossini! |
| 1990s | A film adaptation of Tony Kushner's two-part play Angels in America |
| 1990s | Cork, a film written by Harry Belafonte about subject of blackface and minstrel shows set in the era of Amos 'n' Andy |
| 1990s | Mata Hari, a biopic written by David Williamson based on the life of Danish entertainer Mata Hari |
| 1990s | The Singing Detective starring Dustin Hoffman |
| 1990s | Stamp and Deliver, a "modern-day postal Western" |
| 1990s | More Short Cuts, a sequel to Short Cuts written by Anne Rapp |
| 2000s | A film adaptation of Artie Shaw's unpublished autobiography The Education of Albie Snow starring Johnny Depp |
| 2000s | Voltage, a film adaptation of Robert Grossbach's novel A Shortage of Engineers starring Liv Tyler, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Joaquin Phoenix, William H. Macy, Tony Shalhoub, Harry Belafonte, Elliott Gould and Taye Diggs |
| 2000s | Gambit |
| 2000s | The Widow Claire, a "period romance" set during World War II starring Winona Rider, Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey |
| 2000s | Paint, a film set in the New York art gallery scene starring Salma Hayek, James Franco and Glenn Close |
| 2000s | An Unfinished Life |
| 2000s | A film adaptation of Aesop's fable "The Tortoise and the Hare" written by Andrew Davies |
| 2000s | It's Always Now, a sequel to The Long Goodbye based on an unpublished Raymond Chandler story |
| 2000s | A fictionalized film version based on S. R. Bindler's 1997 documentary Hands on a Hardbody written by Stephen Harrigan starring Hilary Swank, Meryl Streep, Billy Bob Thornton, Jack Black, Jack White, Chris Rock, Dwayne Johnson, Lily Tomlin and Tommy Lee Jones |