Curtis Hanson

Curtis Hanson is a distinguished movie director, producer and screenplay writer. He has directed a wide genre of movies, which include psychological thrillers and rom-coms as well. Born on 24th March 1945 in Reno, Nevada, he was brought up in LA. Her mother Beverly June was a real estate agent, and his father Wilbur Hale was a schoolmaster. He dropped the idea of attending film school and rather decided to work in the powerful journal, Cinema. It was there that he received most of his cinema education. By using his regular job as an excuse, he would set up interviews with his idols, visiting the movie sets of stalwarts like John Ford, Samuel Fuller and Vincente Minnelli. Slowly, he dabbled in screenplay writing as well. His debut movie, a B grade movie known as Sweet Kill, released in the year 1972. He further directed some more small scale movies, mainly comedies and dramas, before directing major feature films. His first major feature film was The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, a psychological thriller, which released in 1992. He followed it up with the crime thriller The River Wild, which released in 1994. His most notable work till date is in the movie L.A. Confidential, which was adapted from the James Ellroy novel of the same name. The Hand That Rock the Cradle was a smash hit at the box office and following that he was entrusted with the mountainous job of making L.A Confidential. The movie was a huge box-office hit and was highly acclaimed by critics worldwide. This film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning two of them: for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.

His other movies include 8 Mile, Lucky You and In Her Shoes, among others. 8 Mile especially, which starred top-rapper Eminem in the lead, earned him great critical acclaim for his direction. He is also credited for directing the HBO TV film Too Big to Fail, with the movie receiving rave reviews and winning numerous nominations and awards at Emmy’s and the Screen Guild Awards. The characters in his movies often refer to or are seen watching movies from the Golden Age of Cinema. Hanson is a former photographer and freelance writer. He was ranked 90 in Premiere’s 2003 annual Power 100 list. He was also the first chairman of the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Moreover, he is the Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Directors Branch), since 2001. He is very picky about the movies he chooses to direct. He is married to Rebecca Yeldham Rebecca Yeldham is an English film producer and di >> Read More... , and they have a son together. He retired from directing films due to Alzheimer’s. Currently, he is based in Southern California.