Film Legend Robert Altman Dies and Leaves Last Project in Peril

This week, Oscar nominee and lifetime achievement winner, Robert Altman exited the stage at the age of 81.

Even if you don't know his name, you probably know his work. He was the brilliant satirist behind such hits as "M*A*S*H," "Nashville," "Gosford Park," and "The Player." He was nominated for an Oscar five times over the course of his career and he was sometimes thought to be America's greatest living film director.

Tom Gliatto, critic for People Magazine, wrote of Altman, "He was a cinematic Balzac, brilliantly if haphazardly mapping out an unruly human comedy rooted in the dreams and/or delusions of American existence: His movies are, at their best, bitter and pessimistic,cynical about power and politics, yet with such a rough-and-tumble energy and such an unexpected fondness for the marginal and down-and-out and such an appreciation for actors and actresses who can play marginal and down-and-out that they're also elating."

Altman made a career out of grappling with Hollywood, and was one of its most vocal and outspoken filmmakers. His anti-war sentiments, put on full display in "M*A*S*H," may have come from personal experience. Altman served in World War II as a bomber pilot and was thus able to bring authenticity to his work. After the war, Altman studied engineering at the University of Missouri in Columbia before deciding upon directing as a career. Much of his early career was spent working in television, directing episodes of "Bonanza" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

Altman, who had once received a heart transplant, had been battling cancer for eighteen months before finally succumbing to the disease this week. He passed away in a Los Angeles hospital.

Much beloved, his death affected some actors and actresses who worked with him very personally. Actress Lindsey Lohan, who starred in Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion" likened Altman's death to the loss of a relative. Lohan called the director "the closest thing to my father and grandfather that I really do believe I've had in several years. I feel as if I've just had the wind knocked out of me and my heart aches."

Garrison Keillor, who inspired "A Prairie Home Companion" said, "Mr. Altman loved making movies. He loved the chaos of shooting and the sociability of the crew and actors-he adored actors-and he loved the editing room and he especially loved sitting in a screening room and watching the thing over and over with other people. He didn't care for the money end of things, he didn't mind doing publicity, but when he was working he was in heaven."

Altman's death is not only a sad one for his actors and fans of the cinema, but also poses a threat to the production of his latest movie, "Hands on a Hard Body."

Some doubt whether or not any other filmmaker can do justice to the new film, which is about a contest in small town Texas where participants must keep their hands on the body of a truck. Since the film was conceived by Altman, production may have to shut down completely.

Altman is survived by his wife, Kathryn Reed Altman, and six children. He also had 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.