Robert Altman, who has been nominated five times for Best Director, will finally take home an honorary Oscar at the 78th annual Academy Awards.

Comingsoon.net reports that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to bestow the Honorary Award upon Altman to honour “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike.”

“The board was taken with Altman’s innovation, his redefinition of genres, his invention of new ways of using the film medium and his reinvigoration of old ones,” said Academy President Sid Ganis. “He is a master film maker and well deserves this honour.”

Altman has directed 37 films (among those he was nominated for are M*A*S*H, Nashville and Gosford Park), produced 27 and written 16. He began his illustrious career with employee training and educational films, then moved on to directing episodes of TV series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Bonanza. In 1969 he was offered the script for M*A*S*H, his breakout movie.

Altman’s next film, A Prairie Home Companion, is slated for a June release. It stars Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Tommy Lee Jones, and yes, Lindsay Lohan.






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