Director Tony Scott lived like his alpha-male action heroes.

In life, the British director-producer shared many characteristics with the fearless men — spies and cops, race car drivers and fighter pilots — who populated his adrenaline-filled movies.
With films such as 'Unstoppable'and 'Man on Fire,' Tony Scott told adrenaline-filled stories about fearless men — spies and cops, race car drivers and fighter pilots — who live by a code and face death on their own terms.

He filled his cinematic landscape with intrigue and action, avoiding computer effects in favor of real-life stunts with speeding trains and screaming jets, even once shutting down the Mississippi River to blow up a ferryboat.

In life, the British director-producer shared many characteristics with his alpha-male action heroes. At age 68, the avid rock climber was planning an ascent on Yosemite's El Capitan and barreling ahead with a slew of film and TV projects, including doing research last week in Nevada for a 'Top Gun' sequel with Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer..