'Top Gun' Director Tony Scott Leaps Off A Bridge To His Death

Tony Scott, director of hit Hollywood films, such as "Top Gun," "Beverly Hills Cop II" and "Days of Thunder," died after he jumped off a bridge in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, reports said.

The 68-year-old, British-born director jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island, Calif., around 12.30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Los Angeles police authorities.

The authorities said that they had received calls from several people about a man jumping off the bridge. Scott's body was fished out four hours later by a diving team using sonar equipment, AP reported.

Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Joe Bale said that Scott's death was being investigated as a suicide. U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Jennifer Osburn told Daily Breeze that a suicide note was found in Scott's car parked near the bridge.

Scott, filmmaker Ridley Scott's younger brother, had directed actors like Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

Scott had produced documentaries and television programs with his brother and was currently working on a film based on a bestseller by Bill O'Reilly, under the banner of Scott Free Productions. His film "Top Gun," starring Tom Cruise and released in 1986, was one of the top box-office hits of the year. The pair worked together again four years later on "Days of Thunder."

Scott is survived by his third wife Donna and their twin sons.