Tony Scott Dies

This is a shocker if only because it's unusual to hear of suicide stories involving men in the twilight of their lives. Scott was 68 years old and married. He drove his car onto the Vincent Thomas Bridge in L.A., got out, climbed a fence, and jumped off. A suicide note was found in the car. Who knows what was going on in his life that spurred him to call it quits.

In addition to being one of Hollywood's most successful action film directors, he was also a producing partner with his brother Ridley and produced the recent Prometheus.

His list of director credits is a what's what of big dumb action thrillers: Top Gun; Beverly Hills Cop II; Days of Thunder; The Last Boy Scout; The Fan; Enemy of the State; Spy Game; Man on Fire; Domino; Deja Vu; The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3; Unstoppable.

His feature debut was an indie vampire film starring Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie called The Hunger. It might have suggested a career path more like Ridley's until the dollars came calling, I guess.

He also directed True Romance, an early Quentin Tarantino screenplay and Crimson Tide, a pretty taut and well-made submarine thriller starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington.

He directed Washington in 5 films, making one of the most successful actor-director partnerships in recent memory.