Director Robert Altman - DEAD!

[Furtherman]

<p><strong>LOS ANGELES, California</strong> (AP) -- Robert Altman, the caustic and irreverent satirist behind &quot;M-A-S-H,&quot; &quot;Nashville&quot; and &quot;The Player&quot; who made a career out of bucking Hollywood management and story conventions, died at a Los Angeles Hospital, his production company said Tuesday. He was 81.</p><p>The director died Monday night, Joshua Astrachan, a producer at Altman's Sandcastle 5 Productions in New York City, told The Associated Press.</p><p>The cause of death wasn't disclosed. A news release was expected later in the day, Astrachan said.</p>