Scott, Tony

Tony Scott was born in the small town of North Shields in Northeast England . His mother is actress Elizabeth Scott , Tony grew up with two older brothers: Frank and Ridley. The future director began his film career as an actor: at the age of 16, he starred in the debut short film of his 23-year-old brother Ridley. He graduated from the Royal College of Art , where his brother had previously studied, and intended to become an artist, but soon joined his brother, who was involved in the production of advertising . Over the course of two decades, he shot about a thousand commercials for British television. After the success that accompanied the films of English directors Alan Parker , Adrian Lyne , Hugh Hudson and Ridley Scott in the United States at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, Tony Scott was also invited to work in Hollywood.

At first, he wanted to make an adaptation of Anne Rice ’s novel “ An Interview with a Vampire, ” but he was unable to agree with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to launch the project. MGM had its own script about vampires, which Tony Scott embodied in the movie. The aesthetic film " Hunger " with the participation of David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve , was released in 1982. He was not successful, so Scott returned to advertising and music video. In 1985, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer invited Scott to stage the costly film The Best Shooter . Simpson and Bruckheimer were among the few fans of The Hunger, and they also liked the ad Scott made for the Swedish car company Saab in the early 1980s.

After the success of Best Gunner, where Tom Cruise starred as a young pilot, Scott began to specialize in action movies. Together with Simpson and Bruckheimer, he directed the film Beverly Hills Police Officer 2 , the sequel to the popular comedy action movie starring Eddie Murphy . His next film, Revenge , where Scott replaced John Houston , who was laid off by the producers, failed at the box office.

In 1990, Scott continued to collaborate with Simpson, Bruckheimer, and Cruz in the movie “ Thunder Days ”. The following year, the action movie with Bruce Willis, “ The Last Boy Scout, ” was released. In 1991, the director met Quentin Tarantino ^[1] , who gave him two of his scripts to read: Mad Dogs and True Love. Scott said he would make films in both scenarios, but Tarantino replied that he would like to shoot Mad Dogs on his own. “ True Love ” with the participation of Christian Slater , Patricia Arquette , Christopher Walken , Gary Oldman and other actors made Scott perceive as a serious director.

Scott's next film, The Crimson Tide , a political thriller about the confrontation between Russia and the United States, where he returned to collaboration with Simpson and Bruckheimer, became a 1995 hit. The thriller “ Fan ” (1996), despite the participation of Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes , was another failure of the director: neither the audience nor the critics liked him. In 1998, when the thriller “ Enemy of the State ” was released, Scott again expected success.

Scott began the new decade with the movie Spy Games , which he dedicated to the memory of his mother, who died in 2001. Then he shot the films " Anger ", " Domino ", " Deja Vu ", commercials for " Marlboro " and the US Army . Together with his brother, Ridley became the founder of the production company Scott Free Productions . Among their works: the series " 4isla ", in which Tony Scott also shot the first series of the fourth season, and the series " Strain" Andromeda " " - a new adaptation of the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton .

Scott was married three times, from his third marriage with actress Donna Wilson Scott had two sons: Frank and Max ^[2] . His nephews (Ridley Scott's children) are directors Jake Scott and Jordan Scott .

Death

On August 19, 2012, 68-year-old Tony Scott, leaving a suicide note in his parked car ^[3] , committed suicide by noon on local time, having thrown himself from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles ^[4] . The contents of the suicide note were not disclosed, the press only found out that it was short, and it contained words of love addressed to his wife and two sons - Max and Frank ^[5] . According to information received from a source from the director’s inner circle, suicide was caused by an inoperable malignant brain tumor ^[6] . However, his widow called these rumors an absolute fiction, denying at all that her husband had any serious medical problems ^{[7] [8]} . The jump from the bridge itself was recorded by CCTV cameras and people nearby who were on a mobile phone, then some of these frames were offered for sale ^[9] .

• 2002 - Emmy for Best Television Film (Churchill)
• 2010 - Award "Britain" for world-wide contribution to the cinema