Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson, the director of the Eminem starrer "8 Mile," died on Sept. 20, Tuesday, in his sleep of natural causes at his home in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. He was 71.
Los Angeles Police Department officer Tony Im told Deadline said police arrived at Hanson's home at 4:50 PM and the director, who had been in poor health for a while, was pronounced dead at the scene. Handon's partner, Rebecca Yeldham, told the publication that the director had been diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration, a rare terminal condition.
Eminem has paid tribute to Hanson. In a statement released to Billboard, the "Rap God" rapper said, "Curtis Hanson believed in me and our crazy idea to make a rap battle movie set in Detroit."
Eminem said he is lucky he go to know Hanson. For the Academy Award-winning rapper, the filmmaker basically made him into an actor for "8 Mile," a musical drama film released on Nov. 8, 2002.
Prior to Hanson's death, three cast members of "8 Mile" passed away. They are Brittany Murphy, D'Angelo Wilson and DeShaun Dupree Holton, who is professionally known as Proof.
Murphy died in 2009. The LAPD responded to a medical request at her home in Los Angeles, where she had collapsed in a bathroom, and was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she died of cardiac arrest.
Wilson committed suicide by hanging in Los Angeles on Nov. 26, 2008. He had posthumous roles in the films "The Salon," "Mercy Street" and "Falling Away."
Proof died on April 11, 2006. Like Eminem, he is a rapper from Detroit, Michigan.
"8 Mile" won Best Music, Original song at the 2003 Academy Awards for the song "Lose Yourself." The award was shared by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto.
Watch the music video of "Lose Yourself" here: