Director Tony Scott Kills Himself
Posted on August 20, 2012 Written By: iadminlaw
Where were you the first time you saw Tom Cruise defying the laws of physics and gravity? Did watching the movie “Top Gun” make you want to join the Navy?
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office said all evidence suggests director Tony Scott took his own life Sunday, when witnesses say he leaped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

SAN PEDRO, CA – AUGUST 20: The sun rises over the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the location where director Tony Scott jumped to his death yesterday afternoon , on August 20, 2012 in San Pedro, California. The famed British film director and brother of Sir Ridley Scott was known for such films as ‘Top Gun,’ ‘Enemy of the State,’ and ‘The Taking of Pelham 123.’ (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Coroner’s Lt. Joe Bale said the office is now treating the case as a suicide. An autopsy is likely to be performed Monday and the Los Angeles Police Department is interviewing witnesses and others.
Scott left a suicide note at his office, law enforcement sources said, but police have not revealed what was in it.
Simon Halls, a spokesman for Scott’s family, said the family asked “that their privacy be respected at this time.”
Los Angeles police first learned of the incident after 12:30 p.m. from a 911 caller who said that an unidentified man had leaped off the suspension bridge that connects San Pedro and Terminal Island. It’s a 185-foot fall from the bridge roadway to the waters of the Los Angeles Harbor.
Several witnesses told police they saw Scott get out of his Toyota Prius, which was parked on the bridge, about 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Then he scaled an 8- to 10-foot fence and jumped off without hesitation, law enforcement sources said.
Authorities have been talking to those on the bridge at the time of the incident.
A source said officials looked inside the car and determined it belonged to the famed action-movie director and producer. A note in the car had contact information for his wife. A suicide note was later found in his office, according to law enforcement sources. Its contents were not revealed.
His body was pulled out of the water several hours later by divers from the Los Angeles Port Police.
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office identified Scott on Sunday evening.
Scott was a respected director and producer who made “Man on Fire,” “Enemy of the State” and “Beverly Hills Cop II.”
The last film he directed was “Unstoppable,” a 2010 thriller about a runaway freight train.
His career in television included executive producing the series “The Good Wife” and “Numb3rs,” both on CBS.
The British director, who lived in Beverly Hills, was best known for the 1986 hit “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise as a Navy aviator. The movie grossed $21.6 million in its first 11 days of release.
Scott was one of three sons born to working-class parents in northern England.
He established his career as a commercial director and continued to make television spots late into his career. Before becoming a filmmaker, Scott was a painter.
Distinguished by a kinetic visual style that aimed to take audiences into his high-octane action scenes, Scott also produced a number of blockbuster movies, most recently “Prometheus,” directed by his brother Ridley Scott, and “The A-Team.”
At the time of his death, he had recently completed filming on “Out of the Furnace,” a drama he was producing about an ex-con starring Christian Bale. The movie is set to come out next year.
Scott was also preparing to produce a science-fiction drama called “Ion” and had served as executive producer on “Stoker,” set to come out next March.
His debut feature, 1983’s vampire movie “The Hunger,” starred Catherine Deneuve and established Scott’s cinematic style. He followed that movie with “Top Gun,” which not only boosted the career of Tom Cruise but also ushered in a series of Scott’s action movies, which included “Days of Thunder,” also starring Cruise, and “Crimson Tide,” starring Denzel Washington.
Though his movies were consistent box-office hits, he rarely attracted critical praise and was never nominated for an Academy Award.
He was more successful with reviewers in television, however, for his work on “The Good Wife.”
Scott was married three times and had twin sons with his third wife, actress and model Donna Wilson.
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