Robert Altman

Rockhurst High School, filmmaker, MASH, Nashville, Kansas City

 

 

Illustration by Jimmy Grist

With a mother whose lineage stretches back to the Mayflower and an education that took him from Kansas City’s private preparatory Rockhurst High School to the Air Force, neighbors might have expected a young Robert Altman to follow a more conventional path.  Instead, he fell into a filmmaking career that would garner accolades, influence, and adjectives such as “maverick” and “pioneer.”  The director-writer’s long film career spanned decades and styles.  Atlman’s MASH was beloved for its topical satire; his Nashville inventively employed a large ensemble cast.  He came back to his hometown to direct 1996’s jazzy Kansas City, and that film’s painted facades can still be seen in the 18th & Vine district.