News National

Director Robert Altman Dies at 81

By Karen Grigsby Bates

Published November 21, 2006 at 12:57 PM EST

Iconoclastic film director Robert Altman has died at the age of 81.

The director, writer and producer was famous for ensemble productions -- often featuring offbeat casting choices -- and overlapping dialogue.

He was nominated for the Academy Award for best director fives times between 1971 and 2002 -- for M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Player, Short Cuts and Gosford Park.

He received an honorary Oscar at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006 "for a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike."

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Karen Grigsby Bates

Karen Grigsby Bates is the Senior Correspondent for Code Switch, a podcast that reports on race and ethnicity. A veteran NPR reporter, Bates covered race for the network for several years before becoming a founding member of the Code Switch team. She is especially interested in stories about the hidden history of race in America—and in the intersection of race and culture. She oversees much of Code Switch's coverage of books by and about people of color, as well as issues of race in the publishing industry. Bates is the co-author of a best-selling etiquette book (Basic Black: Home Training for Modern Times) and two mystery novels; she is also a contributor to several anthologies of essays. She lives in Los Angeles and reports from NPR West.