Curtis Hanson, director of '8 Mile' and 'L.A. Confidential,' dies at 71
Curtis Hanson, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind L.A. Confidential, has died at age 71.
According to TMZ, which first reported Hanson's death, the director was found on Tuesday afternoon in his Hollywood Hills home, where he was pronounced dead of natural causes.
Hanson retired in 2011 during the production of the Gerard Butler surfing movie Chasing Mavericks, citing complications from recent heart surgery. He wound up sharing credit with Michael Apted, who stepped in to direct.
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Though Hanson is perhaps best known for directing the National Film Registry-approved noir L.A. Confidential, for which he and co-writer Brian Helgeland won an Oscar for adapting the book by James Ellroy, he also made an impression on genre fans with his underrated 1992 thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, which made a killing at the box office. As well as the 1994 thriller The River Wild, which had fun pitting Meryl Streep against Kevin Bacon. There was also Bad Influence, which cast James Spader and Rob Lowe in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
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Hanson was a versatile director, whether he was guiding Michael Douglas to one of his best performances in Wonder Boys, or steering Eminem in his only lead performance -- a brilliant one at that -- in 8 Mile. He could do everything from testosterone-fuelled political dramas (HBO's Too Big to Fail) to female-driven dramedies (In Her Shoes).
Hanson made his directorial debut in 1972 with the horror movie Sweet Kill starring Tab Hunter, while his last completed film was the Eric Bana-Robert Duvall poker drama Lucky You.
Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles and dropped out of high school to become a freelance photographer and editor for Cinema magazine. As legend has it, he took the photos of Faye Dunaway that convinced Warren Beatty and director Arthur Hiller to cast her in Bonnie & Clyde.
Hanson went on to serve as a longtime member of the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.
In addition to many friends and Hollywood colleagues, Hanson is survived by a teenage son.
