Mike Altman (born 1955) is the son of film director Robert Altman and is best known for writing the lyrics to "Suicide Is Painless", the theme song for his father's 1970 movie, M*A*S*H. The younger Altman wrote the song at the age of only 14 and received his own guitar as exchange. Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the 1980s, the elder Altman said that Mike made over a million dollars from the song, while he himself was paid only $70,000 for directing the film.
