'Top Gun' director who leaped to death from bridge had 'inoperable brain cancer'

AP

Director Tony Scott died after jumping from a bridge, authorities said.

“Top Gun” director Tony Scott was suffering from inoperable brain cancer and committed suicide to spare himself and his family the pain of watching him die slowly, sources told The Post today.

The famed director died yesterday after jumping from a bridge in Los Angeles, authorities said.

Scott, recently underwent surgery which he had told people was a hip operation, but friends feared it was a recurrence of cancer.

“He has been suffering from cancer and he had a relapse,” a source close to the Hollywood mogul told The Post. “He wasn’t depressed, he was a lovely guy. On Sundays everyone went to his house, there would be the guy who worked in his local restaurant sitting by the pool by Michael Caine.”

Another source said, ”He had been in the hospital earlier this summer, in the past few months, and he had been recuperating. The official story was it was a hip operation, but people suspected he underwent another cancer operation.”

A third source added, “He did have cancer, and for a while he was cancer free. He didn’t have any money problems or marriage problems.”

Police said they received a 911 call at about 12:30 p.m. that an individual had scaled an 8 to 10 foot fence and jumped “without hesitation” off the Vincent Thomas Bridge, according to witnesses.

An autopsy is scheduled to be performed today.

The Coroner's Office found several notes to loved ones in Scott's car, a spokesman told The Associated Press.

A suicide note was later found at his office.

The British-born Scott, who lived in Beverly Hills, was producer and director Ridley Scott's younger brother.

Distinct visual styles mark both siblings' films — Ridley Scott mastering the creation of entire worlds with such films as "Gladiator," ''Blade Runner," ''Alien" and this year's "Prometheus," Tony Scott known for hyper-kinetic action and editing on such films as his most recent, the runaway train thriller "Unstoppable," starring regular collaborator Denzel Washington.

Getty Images For BAFTA Los Angeles

Tony Scott with his brother Ridley Scott

"The biggest edge I live on is directing. That's the most scary, dangerous thing you can do in your life," Scott said in an interview for his 1995 naval adventure "Crimson Tide." ''The scariest thing in my life is the first morning of production on all my movies. It's the fear of failing, the loss of face and a sense of guilt that everybody puts their faith in you and not coming through."