Curtis Hanson

Curtis Hanson
Hanson at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	Curtis Lee Hanson (1945-03-24)March 24, 1945 Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Died	September 20, 2016(2016-09-20) (aged 71) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Director producer screenwriter
Years active	1970–2012
Notable work	The Dunwich Horror The Hand That Rocks the Cradle The River Wild L.A. Confidential Wonder Boys 8 Mile In Her Shoes

Curtis Lee Hanson (March 24, 1945 – September 20, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles. After dropping out of high school, Hanson worked as photographer and editor for Cinema magazine. In the 1970s, Hanson got involved in filmmaking starting with participating in the writing of the horror film The Dunwich Horror (1970) and his directorial debut Sweet Kill (1973), where he lacked creative control to fulfill his vision. While Hanson continued directing, he rose to prominence by being involved in the writing of several critically-acclaimed films. This included Daryl Duke's The Silent Partner (1978), Samuel Fuller's White Dog (1982), and Carroll Ballard's Never Cry Wolf (1983).

Moving forward, Hanson's directorial efforts started to get some attention with The Bedroom Window (1987), and Bad Influence (1990). Eventually, he had a breakthrough with The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), which made $140 million at the box-office. Afterwards Hanson had a streak of generally well reviewed and commercially successful films The River Wild (1994), L.A. Confidential (1997), Wonder Boys (2000), 8 Mile (2002), and In Her Shoes (2005).

For his work of L.A. Confidential, Hanson won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1998, for co-writing with Brian Helgeland, along with additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and for competing for the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Up until 2014, Hanson continued to produce and direct. During this time, he fell ill and it led him to retire. Hanson died of natural causes in 2016.