Curtis Hanson, American film director and screenwriter, Died at 71

Curtis Lee Hanson was born on March 24, 1945, and died on September 20, 2016.

He was an American film director, film producer and screenwriter.

Hanson’s directing work includes the psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential (1997), the comedy Wonder Boys (2000), the hip hop drama 8 Mile (2002), and the romantic comedy-drama In Her Shoes (2005).

He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1998, for co-writing L.A. Confidential with Brian Helgeland.

He started screenwriting in 1970 when he co-wrote The Dunwich Horror, a film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story.

He then wrote and directed his next feature Sweet Kill in 1973, then in 1978 wrote and produced The Silent Partner, starring Elliott Gould and Christopher Plummer.

Since the early 1980s into 1990s, Hanson directed a string of comedies and dramas.

During 2011, he has created made Too Big to Fail, based on the 2009 Andrew Ross Sorkin book of the same name about the beginnings of the financial crisis of 2007–2010.

The film, produced for HBO, featured among its all-star cast William Hurt as Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson, and Cynthia Nixon as his liaison to the press; James Woods as Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers; and Paul Giamatti as Ben Bernanke.

Hanson last film was Chasing Mavericks in 2012, but he was unable to finish the film due to ill health.

But, Michael Apted replaced him as director during the final days of shooting.

Later, he retired from his film work and was reported to have Alzheimer’s disease.

Hanson died of natural causes at his Hollywood Hills home.

Curtis Hanson passed away at 71 years old.