Tony Scott's Death Confirmed As Suicide

Top Gun director Tony Scott had traces of anti-depressants and sleep-inducing drugs in his body when he killed himself by jumping from a California bridge, coroners have concluded.

Hollywood was left stunned when the 68-year-old, whose action thriller work also included Days Of Thunder, died in August after jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge over Los Angeles Harbour.

The LA coroner's office said post-mortem examination results showed therapeutic levels of the anti-depressant mirtazapine and the sleep aid zopiclone in his system.

The cause of death was suicide caused by multiple blunt force injuries and drowning, said coroner's spokesman Ed Winter.

Initial reports after his death suggested Scott had been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, but his widow Donna Wilson dismissed the rumours as "absolutely false".

Chief investigator Craig Harvey told the LA Times that Scott had no serious underlying conditions.

"There was no evidence of neoplasia - cancer - identified," he told the newspaper.

Born in Britain in 1944, Scott made his mark in the mid-1980s when he directed Top Gun, an action-filled blockbuster about elite navy pilots featuring then-rising star Tom Cruise.

He also directed Enemy Of The State, Beverly Hills Cop II, Spy Game, Unstoppable and Crimson Tide.

He had more than 30 new projects in the pipeline at the time of his death, including Top Gun 2.

Scott and Wilson, his third wife, had twin sons.

His older brother is fellow film director Sir Ridley Scott, the maker of Oscar-winning movies including Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.