Robert Altman Revisited

I was driving to Wisconsin yesterday when I heard the news that Robert Altman died. April and I were very sad to hear this news.

I thought it more than appropriate to repost my Random Celebrity Memory about my encounter with Altman. It is a very cool story and I'm even more appreciative of the memory now that he's gone.

As an added note, I'll mention something else about that day that I didn't put into the initial post.

Altman was very easy going. I'm certain he was as prone to anger and tension as the next man, but for this scene he was extremely fun to be around. Everyone wanted to get things right for him and his film, but I think it had more to do with his laid back nature than his legendary status as a director.

Among the things I remember most was watching him do some physical comedy for the crew. In the scene, an awards dinner ceremony, there was a long table filled with a panel of esteemed guests facing the crowd of esteemed attendees (I was an esteemed attendee).

He wanted a few set pieces moved to better fit within his envisioned shot. He pointed with his finger to a spot along the table where he wanted a chair moved. When the crew guy moved the chair towards Altman's finger, Altman yelped out in pain. It appeared to everyone that he'd gotten his finger pinched between the chair and the table's edge. This startled the room and panicked the crew.

"Bob" (See my earlier post) shook his finger and blew on it as anyone would do if they'd just had their finger crushed. The crewman, now worried he'd just lost his job for hurting an Academy Award nominated director, rushed to his side to lend aid. As soon as the crewman got close enough to help, Altman smiled, tussled the crewman's head, and laughed loudly as he said, "Oh. It's alright. My mistake" (Or something to that effect).

Everyone got a good laugh, especially the crew and the likes of folks like me. I've always had an appreciation for the well done physical jokes. When I was at Ringling Bros. Comedy like that was simply a must and we all took to it with a passion. I still do similar jokes every now and again to poor unsuspecting types. It made me happy to see this venerable icon enjoy the same kind of simple comedy with his friends.