Hanson, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of the James Ellroy novel, also directed Wonder Boys and River Wild

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Curtis Hanson, the Oscar winning writer and director of LA Confidential, has died aged 71.

Hanson died of natural causes at his home in the Hollywood Hills home on Tuesday, Los Angeles police spokesman Tony Im said. He had retired in recent years due to Alzheimer’s, according to Variety.com.

Curtis Hanson: Success is better late than never Read more

Although he made a number of other acclaimed films such as Wonder Boys and 8 Mile, it was his bravura adaptation of Jame Ellroy’s noir novel that located Hanson on the Hollywood A-list.

Russell Crowe, who got his Hollywood break as the indestructible detective Bud White in LA Confidential, tweeted that he was “obviously distracted and upset” at the news.

Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) Obviously distracted & upset...RIP to Curtis Hanson... this correction because he would have asked for another take..."in technicolor sir"

Rob Lowe, who starred alongside James Spader in Hanson’s 1990 thriller Bad Influence, said it was “an honor” working with him. “So smart, so kind and a great storyteller. I will miss him.”

Rob Lowe (@RobLowe) It was an honor to make "Bad Influence" with Curtis Hanson. So smart, so kind and a great storyteller. I will miss him.

Laura Walker (@LauraWalkerKC) RIP Curtis Hanson. Thank you for the cinema gold. https://t.co/ON5P05ePp0

A native of Reno, Nevada who grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, Hanson dropped out of high school to work as a photographer.



He began screenwriting and directing in the early 1970s, but didn’t see serious success until directing the 1992 psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. The film starring Rebecca De Mornay as a revenge-seeking nanny became a major hit.

Hanson went on to direct 1994’s The River Wild with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon but his biggest success came three years later with LA Confidential, which featured Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe and Kevin Spacey alongside Oscar-winning Kim Basinger in the complex tale of police corruption.

Peter Avellino (@PeterAPeel) RIP Curtis Hanson. pic.twitter.com/EbULdf7uef

Hanson, who won an Oscar for the screenplay with Brian Helgeland but was denied best director and producer by the huge success of Titanic at the 1998 Academy Awards, said in an interview in 2001 that he had always wanted to tell a story that was set in Los Angeles in the 50s “because that’s where I grew up”.

“I wanted to deal with that and also pursue this theme that interested me, which is the difference between illusion and reality, the way people and things appear to be versus how they really are. And Hollywood, of course, is the city of illusion. So that was near and dear to me, and extremely personal.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Curtis Hanson, left, and Brian Helgeland celebrate with their Oscars after winning best adapted screenplay for LA Confidential at the 1998 Academy Awards. Photograph: Sam Mircovich/Reuters

Hanson explored a different sort of darkness in 8 Mile, the film starring Eminem that explored the gritty streets and trailer parks of Detroit and closely mirrored the rapper’s own younger life.

Hanson chose to shoot the movie in the actual burned-out homes and vacant storefronts of the real city.

Curtis Hanson at the NFT Read more

“Everything about the story felt better to tell it here in Detroit,” Hanson told the AP in 2002.

Hanson said he had only a passing knowledge of hip-hop when he entered the project, and that he and Eminem “had to convince each other” they could both handle the movie as each envisioned it.

“While I was checking him out, he was certainly checking me out,” Hanson said in the Guardian interview. “We spent a lot of time together and we then made a somewhat educated leap of faith.”

Hanson most recently directed the 2011 HBO movie on the financial crisis Too Big to Fail and the 2012 Gerard Butler surfing movie Chasing Mavericks.