Songwriter Joseph Brooks apparently commits suicide in NYC
(CBS/WCBS/AP) NEW YORK - Joseph Brooks, the Oscar-winning songwriter of "You Light Up My Life" who was awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Manhattan apartment, police said.
Brooks, 73, was discovered Sunday in his Upper East Side apartment around 12:30 p.m. by a friend with whom he had planned to have lunch, police spokesman Paul Browne said. It was not immediately clear how long his body had been there. The apartment door was left unlocked, police said.
Brooks' death comes five months after his son Nicholas Brooks was arrested in an unrelated, high-profile case. The son was charged with murdering his fashion designer girlfriend Sylvie Cachay, whose body was found in December in an overflowing bathtub at a swank hotel in SoHo.
According to CBS affiliate WCBS, the elder Brooks was discovered slumped over on a couch in the den, fully-clothed, with a plastic dry-cleaning bag around his head and a towel wrapped around his neck, Browne said. A hose attached to a helium tank was hooked up to the bag, he said.
The medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police said a rambling, three-page suicide note was found that included complaints about his health.
Brooks was awaiting trial on allegations that he molested women who were lured to his apartment for supposed acting auditions. He pleaded not guilty.
Brooks won the Academy Award for best original song for the 1977 Debby Boone ballad "You Light Up My Life" and directed a movie of the same name. It is about a comedian who has a one-night stand with a director. Brooks also won a Grammy for the song.
