**Corrected Caption**..Film director and writer Robert Altman, seen in this March 5, 2006 photo at the 78th Annual Academy Awards, in Hollywood, California, passed away in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 81, on November 20, 2006. Altman was nominated for five best-director Oscars but never won until he was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2006. (UPI Photo/Gary C. Caskey/FILE)