HORROR LEAP
Director Tony Scott in L.A. suicide shocker
“TOP GUN” director Tony Scott, the younger brother of filmmaker Ridley Scott, killed himself Sunday by jumping off a bridge in Los Angeles.
Scott, 68, climbed a fence on the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning Los Angeles Harbor and jumped “without hesitation,” plunging 185 feet to his death, officials said.
A suicide note was found in Scott’s black Toyota Prius parked on the bridge, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jennifer Osburn.
Police and Coast Guard used sonar equipment to find Scott’s body in the murky waters. Divers fished the body from the harbor about three hours hours a after his d death plunge.
Scott apparently parked his car in the eastbound lanes of the 6,060-foot-long bridge, scaled the barrier fence and leaped.
He and his brother, Ridley, had recently finished a two- part medical thriller titled “Coma” that stars Ellen Burstyn and is set to be released next month on the A&E network.
The Scott brothers also co-produced the hit CBS dramas “NUMB3RS” and “The Good Wife.”
Tony Scott’s death sent shockwaves throughout Hollywood.
“No more Tony Scott movies. Tragic day,” director Ron Howard posted on Twitter.
Movie director and screenwriter Richard Kelly, who worked with Scott on the 2005 film “Domino,” tweeted, “Collaborating with the great Tony Scott was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. My thoughts are with his family.”
Born in North Shields, England, Scott started out as a television commercial mercial director.
He got his big break making feature films in 1975, when he directed an adaptation of a Henry James story “The Author of Beltraffio” for French television.
In 1986, Scott directed the blockbuster “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise as a fighter pilot. He went on to direct a string of hits, including “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “Days of Thunder,” “The Last Boy Scout,” “True Romance,” “Crimson Tide” and the remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123.”
Scott is survived by his third wife, actress Donna Scott, the mother of his two young sons.