Update!

Tony Scott's Family Shoots Down Brain Cancer Reports, but Did Director Suffer From Depression?

Loved ones insist the filmmaker was not ill at the time of his death

By Peter Gicas Aug 21, 2012 4:36 PMTags
Watch: Coroner Discusses Tony Scott's Autopsy

Tony Scott's loved ones are not only mourning the loss of the director, who jumped to his death from a bridge in Los Angeles on Sunday, but now find themselves also having to clarify reports that he was ill.

On Monday, a source told ABC News that Scott was suffering from inoperable brain cancer.

However, according to Scott's wife, Donna Wilson, that simply was not the case.

Chief Coroner Craig Harvey tells E! News that the autopsy showed no obvious signs of brain cancer, though further postmortem tests will determine if there were microscopic signs that may have been too early for a physician to detect.

Harvey had previously told the Los Angeles Times that Scott's family said reports of him having terminal cancer were not true.

Now, ABC News appears to be doing a little backpedaling, having changed the headline of its original report from "Top Gun Director Tony Scott Had Inoperable Brain Cancer" to "Tony Scott Brain Cancer Report Appears in Doubt."

The revised story states that Winter told ABC News station KABC in Los Angeles that Scott's family was not aware the filmmaker had cancer, but noted that ABC News was unable to reach Scott's family to confirm the Assistant Chief Coroner's supposed statement.

Meanwhile, Scott's friend and former colleague Julian Bray suggested to NBC News on Monday that the director may have been depressed at the time of his death.

"We are all baffled why this has happened," Bray said. "But there is a history. Apparently he suffered from depression throughout his life. But he managed to bottle it up and, unfortunately, it seems to have suddenly come out."

Harvey told E! that the family did not mention possible depression. An autopsy won't be able to confirm depression, per se, he added, but toxicology tests could reveal if he was taking antidepressants.

In addition to his wife, Donna, Scott also leaves behind the couple's two sons.