http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Scott
Tony Scott
 | This article is about a person who has recently died. Some information, such as that pertaining to the circumstances of the person's death and surrounding events, may change as more facts become known. |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may bechallenged and removed. |
| Tony Scott | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anthony David Scott June 21, 1944 North Shields, England |
| Died | August 19, 2012 (aged 68) San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Anthony Scott T-Scott The Scott brothers |
| Occupation | Film director, producer |
| Years active | 1969–2012 |
| Spouse | Gerry Scott (1967–1974) Glynis Sanders (1986–1987) Donna W. Scott (1994–2012) |
| Children | 2 |
| Family | Ridley Scott (brother) |
Anthony David "Tony" Scott (June 21, 1944 – August 19, 2012)[1]was an English film director. 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. Scott's films were generally box office successes, though he was never nominated for an Academy Award and received little critical praise.[2][3]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Early life
Scott was born in North Shields, the youngest of three sons born of Elizabeth and Colonel Francis Percy Scott.[2][4] At the age of 16, Tony appeared in Boy and Bicycle, a short film marking the directorial debut of his then 23 year-old brother Ridley. He followed in his elder brother's footsteps, studying at Grangefield School, West Hartlepool College of Art and Sunderland Art School, the last for a fine arts degree. He subsequently graduated from the Royal College of Art, fully intending to become a painter. It was only the success of his elder brother's fledging television commercial production outfit, Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), that turned his attentions towards film.
Tony had wanted to do documentaries at first. I told him, "Don't go to the BBC, come to me first." I knew that he had a fondness for cars, so I told him, "Come work with me and within a year you'll have a Ferrari." And he did.[5]
In the course of the next two decades, Scott directed thousands of television commercials for RSA, while also overseeing the company's operation during periods in which his brother was developing his feature film career. Tony also took time out in 1975 to direct an adaptation of the Henry James story The Author of Beltraffio for French television, a project he landed by virtue of winning a coin-flip against his brother.[citation needed] After the considerable feature film successes of fellow British commercial directors Hugh Hudson, Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne and his elder brother in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Scott was beginning to receive overtures from Hollywood himself in 1980, but in the same year his elder brother Frank died of cancer.
[edit]1980s
Scott persisted in trying to embark on a feature film career. Among the projects interesting to him was an adaptation of the Anne Rice novel Interview with the Vampire then in development.[citation needed] MGM was already developing the vampire film The Hunger, for which they brought Scott on in 1982. The Hunger starred David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve and introduced Willem Dafoe in a small role. The Hunger had elaborate photography and sumptuous production design, but it failed to find an audience, received harsh reviews by critics,[citation needed] and had disappointing box office sales[6] (though it later became a cult favourite[7]). Finding himself largely unemployable in Hollywood for the next two and a half years, Scott returned to commercials and music videos.[6]
In 1985, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer approached Scott to direct Top Gun on the strength of The Hunger, as well as a commercial he had done for Swedish automaker Saab in the early 1980s: in the spot, a Saab 900 turbo is shown racing a Saab 37 Viggen fighter jet. Scott, though reluctant at first, agreed to direct Top Gun. Though the film received mixed critical review, it became one of the highest-grossing films of 1986, taking in more than US$176 million,[6] and making a star of its young lead, Tom Cruise.[citation needed]
Following Top Gun's success, Scott found himself on Hollywood's A list of action directors.[citation needed] He reteamed with Simpson and Bruckheimer in 1987 to direct Eddie Murphy and Brigitte Nielsen in the highly anticipated sequelBeverly Hills Cop II. While not being critically embraced, the picture nevertheless became one of the year's highest grossers.[6]
[edit]1990s
His next film, Revenge (1990), a thriller of adultery and revenge set in Mexico, starred Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Quinn. Once again directing Tom Cruise, Scott returned to the Simpson-Bruckheimer fold to helm the big-budget racing film Days of Thunder (1990). Scott later stated that it was difficult find the drama in racing cars in circles, so he "stole from all race movies to date ... then tried to build on them."[3] Scott's next film was the action thriller The Last Boy Scout (1991).
Made for $13 million in 1993,[citation needed] Scott directed True Romance from a script by Quentin Tarantino andRoger Avary. The cast included Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Tom Sizemore, Chris Penn, Val Kilmer and in bit roles, James Gandolfini and Samuel L. Jackson. The movie received positive reviews from Janet Maslin and other critics, but took in less than $13 million and was considered a box office failure.[6]
Scott's next film, Crimson Tide (1995), was a submarine thriller starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. His follow-up film, 1996's The Fan, starred Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin and Benicio del Toro. Scott's 1998 film Enemy of the State, a conspiracy thriller, starred Will Smith and Gene Hackman, and was his highest-grossing film of the decade.[6]
[edit]2000s
Spy Game was released during the Thanksgiving holiday of 2001. It garnered 63% positive reviews at Metacritic and made a little over 60 million dollars at the U.S. box office. Man on Fire was released in April 2004 and made over 75 million dollars at the U.S. box office.[citation needed]
Next for Scott came Domino (2005) starring Keira Knightley.[8] In autumn 2006, Scott reteamed with Denzel Washington for the futuristic action film Déjà Vu.[9]
Scott, along with his brother Ridley Scott, were co-producers of the TV series Numb3rs,[3] which aired from 2005 to 2010. Tony Scott directed the first episode of the fourth season.[10]
Scott once again teamed up with Denzel Washington on The Taking of Pelham 123, which also starred John Travoltaand was released in theaters on June 12, 2009.[11] The film was a remake of the 1974 film of the same title starringWalter Matthau and Robert Shaw. 2009 also saw the debut of The Good Wife, a legal drama television series which had Scott and his brother as two of several executive producers.[12]
[edit]2010s
In 2010, the Scott brothers produced the feature film adaptation of the television series The A-Team.[13] Scott's film,Unstoppable, again starring Washington (with Chris Pine), was released in November 2010.[14]
[edit]Death
On August 19, 2012, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Scott committed suicide by leaping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro port district of Los Angeles, California. Investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department’s harbor division found contact information in his car, which was parked near the bridge, and a suicide note in his office.[15]Witnesses said he did not hesitate before jumping.[16][17] His body was taken from the water by the Los Angeles Port Authority.[2]
Scott is survived by his wife, Donna Wilson Scott, and their twin sons, Frank and Max.[3][18]
[edit]Filmography
[edit]Feature films
- The Hunger (1983)
- Top Gun (1986)
- Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
- Revenge (1990)
- Days of Thunder (1990)
- The Last Boy Scout (1991)
- True Romance (1993)
- Crimson Tide (1995)
- The Fan (1996)
- Enemy of the State (1998)
- Spy Game (2001)
- Man on Fire (2004)
- Domino (2005)
- Déjà Vu (2006)
- The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
- Unstoppable (2010)
[edit]Television
- The Hunger (1 episode in 1997 and 1 in 1999)
- AFP: American Fighter Pilot, Executive producer (2002)
- Numb3rs, Executive producer (2009 to 2010)
- The Good Wife, Executive producer (2009–2012)
- Gettysburg, Executive producer (2011)
- Labyrinth, Executive producer (2012)
[edit]Short films
- Loving Memory (1969)
- One of the Missing (1971)
- The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002)
- Agent Orange (2004)
[edit]Music videos
- "Danger Zone" – Kenny Loggins (1986)
- "One More Try" – George Michael (1988)
[edit]Commercials
- DIM Underwear (1979)
- Player, Achievements and Big Bang for Barclays Bank (2000)
- Telecom Italia (2000) (Starring Marlon Brando and Woody Allen)
- Ice Soldier for US Army (2002)
- One Man, One Land for Marlboro (2003)
[edit]Recurring collaborators
[edit]References
- ^ The Wrap (August 19, 2012). "Tony Scott, Director of 'Top Gun,' Dies in Apparent Suicide". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Andrew Blankenstein and John Horn (August 19, 2012). "'Top Gun' director Tony Scott jumps to his death from L.A. bridge". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Authorities say 'Top Gun' director Tony Scott dies after jumping off Los Angeles County bridge". The Washington Post. Associated Press. August 19, 2012. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "How Winston helped save the nation". The Scotsman. July 6, 2002. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ Ridley Scott's comment on The Directors.
- ^ a b c d e f Julie Makinen and Geoff Boucher (20 August 2012). "Tony Scott dies at 68; a film career in retrospective".The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ Kevin Wicks (August 20, 2012). "British Director Tony Scott Dead in Apparent Suicide at 68". BBC America. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Domino". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Déjà Vu". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Numb3rs Season 4, Episode 1: Trust Metric". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3". IMDb. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ "Full Cast and Crew for 'The Good Wife'". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "The A-Team". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Unstoppable". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ Thom Geier (August 20, 2012). "'Top Gun' director Tony Scott dies at age 68 in apparent suicide". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ Andrew Blankstein (August 19, 2012). "'Top Gun' director Tony Scott dead after jumping off bridge". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ Louise Boyle (August 19, 2012). Top Gun director Tony Scott commits suicide by jumping off LA bridge. The Daily Mail. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Tony Scott". NNDB. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
[edit]External links
| ||
| ||
