He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and satirical films with overlapping dialogue and ensemble casts. He never won a competitive Oscar despite seven nominations. He worked in publicity for a company that had invented a tattooing machine to identify dogs. He entered filmmaking on a whim, selling a script to RKO for the picture Bodyguard , which he co-wrote with George W.
Altman's immediate success encouraged him to move to New York City, where he attempted to forge a career as a writer.
Having enjoyed little success, he returned to Kansas City in and accepted a job as a director and writer of industrial films for the Calvin Company. Altman directed some 65 industrial films and documentaries for the Calvin Company. Through his early work on industrial films, Altman experimented with narrative technique and developed his characteristic use of overlapping dialogue.
Altman also had a career directing plays and operas parallel to his film career. These plays allowed him to work with local actors, such as fellow future director Richard C. Sarafian would later marry Altman's sister and follow him to Hollywood. Altman's first forays into television directing were on the DuMont drama series Pulse of the City β , and an episode of the western series The Sheriff of Cochise.
In , he was hired by a local businessman to write and direct a feature film in Kansas City on juvenile delinquency. While primitive, this teen exploitation film contained the foundations of Altman's later work in its use of casual, naturalistic dialogue. With its success, Altman moved from Kansas City to California for the last time.
