Los Angeles: Filmmaker-writer Curtis Hanson, known forhis work on films like Kevin Spacey-starrer "LA Confidential", "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and "The River Wild", has passed away. He was 71.

Hanson, whose sterling adaptation of the noir classic "LA Confidential" earned him an Oscar and vaulted him to A-list status as a screenwriter and director, died on September 20 in his home in the Hollywood hils, according to The Hollywood Reporter.