Joseph Brooks, the Oscar-winning composer of the hit You Light Up My Life and who was awaiting trial on rape charges, was found dead in his New York apartment on Sunday, having apparently killed himself, the police said.
Brooks’ body was discovered at his apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side about 12.30 pm by a friend with whom he had planned to have lunch, the police said. Brooks, 73, had a plastic bag wrapped around his head. A helium tank with a hose attachment also was found at the scene, the police said.
They said they found a suicide note but would not discuss its contents. Brooks was awaiting trial after pleading not guilty in 2009 to charges he raped and sexually abused at least 11 women. According to the attorney’s account, Brooks, a director, screenwriter and composer, tricked aspiring actresses into coming to his apartment in the belief they were auditioning for a role. Brooks won his Academy Award in 1977 for composing the Debby Boone ballad You Light Up My Life, which featured in the film of the same name.
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Liz’s love letters sold for $47,000
London: Love letters written by screen icon Elizabeth Taylor to her first flame William Pawley Jr have been sold at an auction for over $47,000.
The letters were written by the Cleopatra star when she was a teenager, reported Contactmusic. More than 60 love notes went under the hammer at an RR Auction sale online over the weekend.
The letters express Taylor’s love for the engaged Pawley Jr, who is now 90-years old and lives in the South Florida neighbourhood of Pembroke Pines.
She wrote that she received his letter about returning a ring and bracelet to New York in September 1949, when the relationship seemed to be coming to an end.
The late movie icon and Pawley Jr were engaged for less than a year and never married. The actress died in March this year aged 29.
—PTI