Curtis Hanson, the film director whose adaptation of the James Ellroy noir novel “L.A. Confidential” won him an Academy Award, died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 71.

The death was confirmed by Officer Jenny Houser, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department. She said that officers had been called to the house shortly before 5 p.m., and that Mr. Hanson had died of natural causes.

Julie Mann, his business manager, said Mr. Hanson had been struggling for some time with a form of dementia.

Mr. Hanson directed a handful of hits, including “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “The River Wild” and “8 Mile,” as well as the well-received television movie “Too Big to Fail.” But “L.A. Confidential,” released in 1997, was his biggest film and his most successful artistic creation.