Curtis Hanson

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.

Corman replied he might also be interested in a modern horror film along the lines of Psycho (1960).

Hanson wrote the script originally with the killer as a female.

Corman liked it but felt it was "a little too different" for the killer to be female so asked she be turned male.

According to Hanson, the film cost $130,000 and Corman was supposed to put up two-thirds of the money.

After Corman decided to only put up a third, Hanson said "I went to my parents and persuaded them to put a mortgage on their home in order to finance this film."

After creative interference from Corman, Hanson later described the experience as a "very unhappy" one.

That same year, Hanson, with the pseudonym Edward Collins, shot a film called And God Bless Grandma and Grandpa.

Producer Peter S. Traynor wanted to shoot new scenes.

In the 1970s, Hanson got involved in filmmaking starting with participating to the writing Daniel Haller's 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 critically acclaimed films.

In 1970, Hanson is listed among the writers of Daniel Haller's The Dunwich Horror, a film adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's short story.

White Dog was a 1970 novel, whose story was purchased for use by Paramount in 1975, with Hanson selected to write the screenplay and Roman Polanski hired to direct.

Before shooting commenced, Polanski had legal problems, leaving the production in limbo.

In 1973, Hanson wrote and directed his first feature, Sweet Kill starring Tab Hunter.

The film came about when Hanson approached the executive producer Roger Corman about the possibility of writing and directing a film for him.

Which he did with actor Dean Jagger, in 1974, who played a character named "Dr. Shagetz."

It was renamed God Bless Dr. Shagetz. In 1975, a litigation started between Traynor and the film's financial investors.

It is rumored that with the name God Bless Dr. Shagetz, it had limited released in 1977.

This includes Daryl Duke's The Silent Partner (1978), Samuel Fuller's White Dog and Carroll Ballard's Never Cry Wolf (1983).

In 1978, Hanson wrote and was an associate producer for Daryl Duke's Canadian film The Silent Partner.

The Silent Partner did well in Canada both critically and financially, winning several Canadian Film Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

The film was a sleeper upon its US release, with Brendon Hanley of the film database Allmovie noting that the film"...stands out as one of the best sleepers of the late '70s".

In 1980, Hanson directed The Little Dragons starring Chris and Pat Petersen.

In 1982, Hanson was among the screenwriters of Samuel Fuller's White Dog.

The film depicts the struggle of a dog trainer named, who is black, trying to retrain a stray dog trained to make vicious attacks upon, and to kill, any black person.

In 1983, a producer named Mardi Rustam, bought the films rights and shot new footage.

In 1985, Rusham's version was released as a direct to video title name Evil Town.

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.

Hanson was born in Reno, Nevada, and grew up in Los Angeles.

He was the son of Beverly June Curtis, a real estate agent, and Wilbur Hale "Bill" Hanson, a teacher.

Hanson dropped out of high school, finding work as a freelance photographer and editor for Cinema magazine.