Top Gun Director Tony Scott Dead at 68 in Apparent Suicide

British filmmaker jumps to his death from the Vincent Thomas Bridge

Blockbuster film director Tony Scott died today, his rep confirms to E! News.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office and LAPD say that Scott's remains were found after an apparent jump from the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning the Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro. 

According to witnesses, the 68-year-old British filmmaker climbed a fence on the south side of the bridge and leapt off "without hesitation" around 12:30 p.m.

Los Angeles Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter tells E! News that "the case was reported as a suicide. There was a note found at his office by friends."

A joint task force of LAPD, California Highway Patrol, firefighters and the Coast Guard recovered his body from the water at approximately 3 p.m.

The brother and business partner of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ridley Scott, Tony was known for his red ball cap and a string of hits that also included Beverly Hills Cop II, starring Eddie Murphy; Enemy of the State, starring Will Smith; and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

Born in northern England in 1944, Scott began his career directing TV commercials and music videos before helming his first feature, 1983's The Hunger, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon, before striking it big with Top Gun in 1986.

Scott was also the man behind such movies as Days of Thunder, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Spy Game and Man on Fire. The last film he directed was the 2010 thriller Unstoppable.

He also worked as a producer on such films as The A-Team and his brother Ridley's recent sci-fi flick Prometheus.

But his work wasn't limited to the big screen. Scott earned an Emmy for executive producing a 2002 TV movie on Winston Churchill titled The Gathering Storm.

More recently, he had served as executive producer on the shows Numb3rs and The Good Wife.

Scott, who married three times, had two sons with his third wife, Donna.