Robert Altman to get honorary Oscar

Jan 11, 2006 by Ian Evans

Director-producer-writer Robert Altman has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Altman will be presented te award at the 78th Academy Awards® Presentation on March 5, 2006. The Honorary Award will be given to Altman to honor “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike.”

Altman has received five Academy Award nominations for directing — for “M*A*S*H,” “Nashville,” “The Player,” “Short Cuts” and “Gosford Park” — as well as two additional nominations as a producer of Best Picture nominees “Nashville” and “Gosford Park — but has never taken home the Oscar.

He has directed 37 films, produced 27 and written 16 of them.

“The board was taken with Altman’s innovation, his redefinition of genres, his invention of new ways of using the film medium and his reinvigoration of old ones,” said Academy President Sid Ganis. “He is a master film maker and well deserves this honor.”

Altman’s films include such additional titles as “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” “The Long Goodbye,” “Thieves Like Us,” “Popeye” and “Prêt-à-Porter.” His current film, “A Prairie Home Companion” is in post-production.

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