UPDATED: Tony Scott has died in an apparent suicide

UPDATE 1: It turns out that Scott had been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. END

UPDATE 2: It now appears that Scott’s Wife has told police that he did not have brain cancer. Lt Fred Corral with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office tells Deadline that an autopsy was completed today on the 68-year-old Scott, but the cause of death was deferred pending toxicological and other tests. The results will take 4 to 8 weeks. END

Oh this is so sad and weird that I watched The Last Boy Scout yesterday.

Tony Scott, director of Top Gun, Enemy of the State, True Romance, Crimson Tide and the superb Spy Game, has died after jumping off a Los Angeles bridge on Sunday.The 68 year-old, originally from North Shields, North Tyneside, died after he plunged almost 200 feet from the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

Witnesses said he climbed a fence on the south side of the bridge’s apex and leapt off “without hesitation” around 12:30 p.m.

A suicide note was found inside Scott’s black Toyota Prius, which was parked on one of the eastbound lanes of the bridge, said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jennifer Osburn.

Authorities used sonar equipment to track the man in the port’s murky waters and his body was recovered by a dive team around 4:30 p.m., Alva said. Scott’s body was taken to a dock in Wilmington and turned over to the county coroner.

As always suicide is such a crazy thing to do and he must have been in a bad place for this to happen. It is so sad for him and his family.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic news that Tony Scott has died. He was not only an incredibly gifted filmmaker and ambassador for the UK film industry, he was a significant part of the history of Shepperton Studios. He directed some of the most successful films of all times and at Shepperton these included The Hunger (1981), Spy Game (2001) and Tony most recently produced Prometheus (2012) directed by his brother Ridley. He will be sadly missed and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”

Ivan Dunleavy, Chief Executive, Pinewood Shepperton plc

Scott had loads of projects in the works including Top Gun 2. He made so many great movies. This is an absolute loss.

Our thoughts are with his family.

Thanks to Andy for letting me know.

Here are a few tweets about the man.

https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/statuses/237402691884687360

https://twitter.com/rosariodawson/status/237479333042737152

https://twitter.com/carnojoe/status/237465479881576449

https://twitter.com/TheHayleyAtwell/status/237474244974489603

https://twitter.com/OfficialKat/statuses/237407602802311168

https://twitter.com/danielwuyanzu/statuses/237450107316998145

https://twitter.com/Rodriguez/statuses/237416871828287488