Director and writer

Born: March 24, 1945;

Died: September 20, 2016

CURTIS Hanson, who has died aged 71, was a writer and director who won a screenwriting Oscar for LA Confidential, the cult film about police corruption that helped make stars of Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe. He also directed the psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and Eminem's tale of Detroit hip-hop, 8 Mile.

A native of Reno, Nevada, who grew up in Los Angeles, Hanson dropped out of high school to work as a photographer, writer and editor for the magazine Cinema."It was, in a sense, my film school," he said. It was his pictures of Faye Dunaway that led to her being cast in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.

Hanson began screenwriting and directing in the early 1970s, but did not see serious success until directing 1992's The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. The film starring Rebecca De Mornay as a revenge-seeking nanny became a major hit.

He then went on to direct 1994's The River Wild, the crime thriller with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon, and 2000's Wonder Boys with Tobey Maguire and Michael Douglas.

His breakthrough as an acclaimed film-maker came with 1997's LA Confidential, which he co-wrote and directed. "I got into the business kind of through a side door," he said. "I felt my best avenue was through screenwriting, because to write, all you need is a typewriter and an idea."

Hanson was lauded for taking James Ellroy's massive novel about cops, criminals and tabloid rags in 1950s Los Angeles and streamlining it into a riveting thriller without losing its nuance.

He said he had wanted to tell the story for a long time. “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.”

Hanson and co-writer Brian Helgeland won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay and Hanson was nominated for best director and the movie for best picture.

LA Confidential introduced Russell Crowe to American audiences and was a career high point for many of those involved, including Kim Basinger, who also won an Oscar.

Hanson then went on to explore 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 younger life.

Hanson chose to shoot the movie in the actual burned-out homes and vacant shopfronts of the real city. He 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 envisaged it.

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.

He is survived by a son, born in 2004, with partner Rebecca Yeldham, a producer.