Director Tony Scott commits suicide

Onlookers might have thought it was a movie shoot but when British born Hollywood director Tony Scott jumped from a bridge over Los Angeles Habour, he was jumping to his death. According to officials, the matter is being treated as suicide.

The 68 year old parked his car on the Vincent Thomas Bridge about 12:30 Sunday and leaped into the water below. It took about 3 hours later for his body to be recovered after onlookers had alerted the authorities.

Of course it was only after his body was recovered that he was positively identified as maker of Hollywood blockbusters like Top Gun and Crimson Tide. A note believed to be a suicide note was found in his car although the content of the note is not released to the public yet.

Katherine Rowe, spokeswoman for the filmmaker, said in a statement, “I can confirm that Tony Scott has indeed passed away,” adding only, “The family asks that their privacy be respected at this time.”

Scott had an impressive stint in directing during his time at Hollywood and his expertise in the business has established him as one of the most successful action directors in the world.

Younger brother of Ridley Scott who also is a movie director, Scott was born in Northumberland, in England, and occasionally is seen in his signature faded red baseball cap, with several movies and television shows to his credit.

Scott kicked off his directing career with the 1983 vampire movie The Hunger in which he starred fellow Brit David Bowie and French actress Catherine Deneuve. The Hunger was a flop but Scott came back three years later with Top Gun, before the 1987 Eddie Murphy comedy Beverly Hills Cop II which was a massive success.

The Scotts; Tony and Ridley teamed up to produce two successful prime-time television dramas, Numb3rs, and The Good Wife. The former ran between 2005 and 2010 on CBS while the later premiered in 2009 and is still running in CBS.

Tony had several works with actor Denzel Washington including Man on Fire, Deja Vu, the Taking of the Pelham 1 2 3, and Unstoppable.

Scott is survived by his third wife, Donna, and his twin sons.