Tony Scott, the man behind films such as Top Gun and True Romance, has died after jumping off a bridge according to LA authorities.

The British-born director, youngest brother to Ridley, was born in North Shields in 1944. After graduating from the Royal College of Art with the intention of being a painter, his career took a different direction when he decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

The 1980s saw his career begin to take off with an adaptation of Whitley Strieber’s The Hunger, starring David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon. This caught the attention of major Hollywood players Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson who signed him up for undoubtedly one of the most iconic movies of the ’80s, Top Gun. Not only did it catapult Scott’s status, but it made a star of Tom Cruise and became the highest grossing movie of 1986.

The year after saw Scott reunited with Bruckheimer & Simpson for Beverly Hills Cop II, starring Eddie Murphy, in 1987; and 1990 saw the release of Revenge starring Kevin Costner and Days of Thunder marking his second collaboration with Tom Cruise. The nineties continued with Scott doing what he did best including films such as The Last Boy Scout, the Tarantino-penned True Romance and Enemy of the State.

The years 2000 – 2010 saw more success with big names in lead roles such as Brad Pitt in Spy Game and four more movies with Denzel Washington. These included the brutal Man on Fire (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) and Unstoppable (2010).

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