British filmmaker Tony Scott committed suicide by jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles, California on Sunday after discovering he was suffering from inoperable brain cancer. He was 68. The younger brother of fellow film director Ridley Scott, Tony was born in North Shields in 1944 and made an on-screen appearance aged 16 as the lead in Ridley’s directorial debut Boy & Bicycle, before following in his brother’s footsteps and directing a number of commercials for Ridley Scott Associates.
In 1983, Tony directed his first feature film The Hunger with David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve; while The Hunger disappointed at the box-office, Scott enjoyed a huge hit with his second feature, teaming up with producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and rising star Tom Cruise for the classic 80s action film Top Gun, which propelled him into the Hollywood A-list. After directing Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and Revenge (1990), he reteamed with Cruise for 1990’s Days of Thunder, as well as directing Bruce Willis in The Last Boy Scout, and helming an early script from Quentin Tarantino, True Romance, in 1993.
Throughout the next two decades, Scott continued to direct a number of successful action films, including Enemy of the State and Spy Game, as well as five collaborations with Denzel Washington: Crimson Tide, Man of Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and Unstoppable. Meanwhile, through his and Ridley’s production company Scott Free, he would also produce a number of projects, including the likes of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The A-Team, Life in a Day, The Grey and Prometheus.
Originally published August 20, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
