Hollywood plans tributes to Robert Altman

By Gregg Goldstein

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Three months after the death of Robert Altman at age 81, several tributes have been announced for the maverick director.

Film Independent, the organizer of the annual Independent Spirit Awards, the arthouse world's version of the Oscars, has created the Robert Altman Award, given to one film's ensemble cast and director; the first one will be given out next year.

At this year's Independent Spirit Awards ceremony in Santa Monica on February 24, where Altman will compete for best director for his last film, "A Prairie Home Companion," he will also be bestowed with an honorary award "for his body of work and contribution to the ensemble genre."

Helen Mirren, Robert Downey Jr., Elliott Gould, Christopher Guest, Sally Kellerman, Andie MacDowell and John C. Reilly are among the stars scheduled to pay tribute at the ceremony.

In addition, memorial services for the director have been slated for February 20 in New York and March 4 in Los Angeles.

The New York memorial will feature such Altman collaborators as Bob Balaban, Harry Belafonte, Kevin Kline, Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins, Alan Rudolph, Joan Tewkesbury, Lily Tomlin, and Gary Trudeau. Altman's children Michael, Stephen, Robert Reed and Matthew will appear, and Annie Ross, William Bolcom, Elvis Costello and Robert Altman's Kansas City Orchestra are expected to perform.

Altman's New York memorial service is set for noon February 20 at Broadway's Majestic Theater. The Los Angeles service is scheduled for 2 p.m. March 4 at the DGA Theater.

The director of such films as "MASH," "Nashville" and "The Player," received an honorary Academy Award last year for "a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike." Altman succumbed to complications from cancer last November.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter