Originally published September 21, 2016. Updated October 24, 2022.
Osac-winning filmmaker Curtis Hanson has passed away aged 71, with the Los Angeles Police Department announcing that the L.A. Confidential director was found dead in his home on Tuesday. He had been battling Alzheimer’s, and died of natural causes.
Hanson began his career in 1970, co-writing an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror, and went on to writer, direct and produce a number of films before enjoying box office success in the 90s with The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild.
In 1997, he earned critical acclaim for L.A. Confidential, which he directed, produced and co-wrote with Brian Helgeland, winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hanson’s later projects included likes of Wonder Boys, 8 Mile and Lucky You, as well as his final film Chasing Mavericks, which he co-directed with Michael Apted in 2012.
