Curtis Hanson, director of L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile and Wonder Boys, was found dead in his home on Tuesday afternoon, the Los Angeles Police Department reported. He was 71 years old.
Hanson’s partner Rebecca Yeldham revealed that Hanson suffered from Frontotemporal Degeneration, a brain disorder similar to Alzheimer’s disease and that he passed away in his sleep.
“Curtis had been battling for some time a rare terminal condition known as Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD),” Yeldham wrote. “A clinical feature of the disease is anosognosia, a lack of awareness about the condition itself. We will be forever thankful that Curtis never suffered in the knowledge of his illness or prognosis.”
Hanson’s death elicited mourning across social media, with messages coming from Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Bacon, Joe Mazzello, Rob Lowe, Jason Reitman and more.
“We were greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Curtis Hanson,” said Paris Barclay, the president of the Directors Guild of America, in a statement released Wednesday. “As a filmmaker, Curtis often sent his characters into unexpected, dangerous situations that required quick thinking and skilled precision to emerge victorious. This was much like Curtis’ own directing, where he thought on his feet and used his honed mastery of the craft to create worlds of suspense and emotion.”
Rapper and hip hip artist Eminem, who was the star of Hanson’s 8 Mile, told Billboard following his death. “Curtis Hanson believed in me and our crazy idea to make a rap battle movie set in Detroit,” the rapper said. “He basically made me into an actor for 8 Mile. I'm lucky I got to know him.”
The famed director began his film career in in 1970 when he co-wrote The Dunwich Horror, but it was in 1997 that he received critical acclaim for his work directing L.A. Confidential. He received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his role in co-writing the film.
Hanson stopped working in 2012 when ill health prevented him from completing directorial work on the film Chasing Mavericks. He was replaced by Michael Apted for the remainder of the shooting and retired soon afterward.