Robert Altman

Robert Altman (1925-2006) was an Academy Award-nominated film director (and screenwriter and producer) whose trademarks included large ensemble casts and overlapping dialogue. His best known movies include M*A*S*H, Nashville, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and The Player, in addition to The Long Goodbye, Popeye, and over a dozen more.

One of Altman's later films, Gosford Park (2001), featured digital effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

The 2014 book Make Art, Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career quotes Caroll Spinney referencing a meeting between Henson and Altman: "I was concerned about a nine o’clock call time that morning. Jim said that he’d be ready for it because he had a 5:00 A.M. meeting with Robert Altman first."

Muppet Mentions

 * In Brewster McCloud (1970), Brewster's boss Abraham Wright keeps shouting about how he needs to get home so he can watch Sesame Street.


 * Altman's Nashville (1975) features Sesame clip footage and a vocal and sign language performance of "Sing"

Connections
In addition to the casts of Nashville and Gosford Park, several of Altman's cast also appeared in Muppet-relevant projects


 * Cher played Sissy in Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) and herself in The Player (1992)
 * Shelley Duvall played Suzanne Davis in Brewster McCloud (1970), Ida Coyle in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Keechie in Thieves Like Us (1974), and Olive Oyl in Popeye (1980)
 * Paul Dooley played himself in The Player (1992)
 * Peter Falk played himself in The Player (1992)
 * Don Francks played Buffalo in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
 * Elliott Gould played Philip Marlowe in The Long Goodbye (1973), Charlie Walters in California Split (1974), and himself in The Player (1992)
 * Joel Grey played himself in in The Player (1992)
 * Philip Baker Hall played Richard Nixon in Secret Honor (1984)
 * Margaret Hamilton played Daphne Heap in Brewster McCloud (1970)
 * Gordon Robertson played a townsperson in McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
 * Maya Rudolph played Sam in A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
 * Lily Tomlin played herself in in The Player (1992), Doreen Pigott in Short Cuts (1993), and Rhonda Johnson in A Prairie Home Companion (2006)