WESTWOOD, CA – OCTOBER 26: Director Tony Scott arrives at the premiere of Twentieth Century Fox’s ‘Unstoppable’ at Regency Village Theater on October 26, 2010 in Westwood, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Director and producer Tony Scott committed suicide on 19 August 2012, jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles, California. ABC News reports that he had inoperable brain cancer. Born Anthony D.L. Scott on 21 June 1944, in Northumberland, England, he was the youngest brother of fellow director Ridley Scott, and worked frequently with his brother. They shared an Emmy Award in 2002 for the made-for-TV movie The Gathering Storm, and were nominated for Emmys in 2000 (RKO 281), 2008 (The Andromeda Strain), 2010 (The Good Wife), and 2011 (Gettysburg, The Pillars of the Earth, and The Good Wife).
Scott started out as a painter after graduating from the Royal College of Art. He moved into directing television commercials with his older brother’s new company, Ridley Scott Associates. He continued making commercials for many years. His film directing debut was 1983’s The Hunger, starring Catherine Deneuve. Then came Top Gun (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), and Days of Thunder (1990), establishing his action style and credentials. The Los Angeles Times notes that “while his movies were consistent box-office hits, he rarely attracted critical praise, and was never nominated for an Academy Award.”
The Times also says that 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 other genre credits (both directing and producing) include: Prometheus (2012), The Sector (2011), Tell Tale (2009), and Deja Vu (2006).
Scott was twice divorced. He is survived by his third wife, actress Donna W. Scott (they married in 1994), and their twin sons, Frank and Max, who were born in 2000.
