Joseph Brooks, "You Light Up My Life" Found Dead

AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano

Grammy-winning songwriter Joseph Brooks was found dead today in his Manhattan apartment at age 73, authorities confirm to E! News. The police are calling it a suicide.

Brooks, who famously penned the Academy Award-winning ballad "You Light Up My Life," was awaiting trial for more than 80 sex-related charges.

The police reportedly found Brooks with a plastic bag wrapped around his head near a hose attached to a tank of helium gas. A suicide note was also found on the scene.

Brooks was awaiting trial for the sexual assault of 11 young actresses whom he allegedly lured to his apartment by falsely promising auditions for movie roles. Last December, Brooks' 24-year-old son, Nicholas, was arrested for the murder of fashion designer Sylvie Cachay.

http://www.eonline.com/