Tony Scott, Director and Producer Known for Decades of Action
In partnership with his brother, Ridley Scott, he was a prolific producer as well.
Tony Scott, a director and producer known for such action movies as Top Gun, True Romance, Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, Crimson Tide, Spy Game, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and Unstoppable, died August 19, 2012. He was 68.
According to news reports, he took his own life by jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in southern California, which connects San Pedro and Terminal Island.
ABC News later reported that Scott had inoperable brain cancer at the time of his death, but the claim was refuted by Scott's family.
Born in North Shields, Northumberland, England, in 1944, Scott attended art school and was a painter before joining his older brother, Ridley Scott, who had become a director of commercials, as a filmmaker.
He debut feature film as a director, The Hunger, a romantic thriller starring David Bowie, Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve, was released in 1983.
Three years later he enjoyed global success with the release of Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise as a brash Navy pilot. In the years afterward he made such films as Days of Thunder, Beverly Hills Cop II and True Romance.
Scott and brother Ridley were partners in the production company Scott Free, which in recent years was heavily involved in television. Their projects included the hit series Numb3ers and The Good Wife and the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth. They recently completed another miniseries, Coma, scheduled to air later this year on A&E.
Scott was married three times. In addition to his brothers, he is survived by his third wife and their twin sons.
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