Vale director Tony Scott, legendary director of Top Gun, True Romance and Crimson Tide – and some of the greatest commercials of all time
The world advertising and film industry is in shock following news that acclaimed British TVC and film director Tony Scott – co-founder with brother Ridley of RSA Films and Scott Free – has committed suicide today (August 19, 2012) by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro port district of Los Angeles at around 12:30 local time.
Investigators found contact information in his Toyota Prius, which was parked on the left side of the road near the bridge, and a suicide note in his office. Witnesses said he did not hesitate before jumping.
His films include The Hunger, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Unstoppable. He was the younger brother of fellow film director Ridley Scott.
He also directed some of the greatest ads of all time, including Hovis ‘Runaway’ for CDP London in 1979 – incidentally, art directed by Aussie expat Bob Isherwood. In recent times he directed the awarded BMW Films ‘Beat the Devil’ film and the Barclay’s ‘Big’ spot.
14 Comments
Very sad news indeed.
He directed some of the most famous British commercials of all time.
Including this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vGKQiHeI_M&feature=plcp
RIP.
Can’t believe he drove a Prius. I remember when he used to pull up outside Saatchis London in a (black) Ferrari Boxer.
sad 🙁
Life is precious so always sad when someone makes that decision.
Tony’s big bro directed HOVIS bike ride tho no?
Funny, I always thought Ridley directed that Hovis spot. But this isn’t a time for quibbling.
True Romance is one of my favourite films ever.
RIP
This is gut wrenching news.
The best creative people regularly plunge the depths in the bottomless pit of their own souls to find the light.
And at times, we plunge a little too far.
As asinine as we are compared to the greats like tony, we should support one-another a bit more. Regardless of what we’re doing, we’re all exploring the darkness of our very being to find light that fills the black holes of human existence.
Tony did this exceptionally well, and sadly went too far across the abyss.
Condolences to Ridley and family, such a tragedy.
Yep. My mistake. It was Ridley who did the Hovis. Got a CDP mate here who swore blind it was Tony.
But I will say that the Sicilian scene in True Romance is probably one of the greatest ever filmed.
Jeez I love being right.
He did do the Hovis ‘Runaway spot’ in 1979 – knew he did one of them.
One of the creatives was a certain young Bob Isherwood…
indeed. True Romance is my favorite movie ever.
RIP Tony.
A nice article for those not familiar with him:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/aug/20/tony-scott-rock-n-roll-ridley?newsfeed=true
His mind must finally be at peace. For anyone who has truely suffered the noise of the black dog and wished for such a complete ending, you’d know what I’m talking about. Incredibly sad and hard for those you leave behind so you can only imagine how hard this decision is to make. RIP, and our thoughts go out to those who are greiving.
Tho apparently Tony is actually IN HOVIS bike somewhere. certainly didnt direct it but reportedly in one of the shots somewhere