Songwriter Joseph Brooks, who won the best song Oscar in 1978 with You Light Up My Life, has been found dead in New York after apparently taking his own life.
Brooks, pictured in 1978, was also a director and a producer
The 73-year-old was awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting more than a dozen women.
Brooks was found in his apartment on Sunday by a friend, police said. It appears he died of asphyxiation.
A three-page suicide note was found, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
Brooks had pleaded not guilty to allegations that he molested women he had lured to his apartment and was awaiting trial at the time of his death.
A director and producer as well as a songwriter, Brooks also composed music for The Lords of Flatbush and the West End musical Metropolis.
Taken from the film of the same name, You Light Up My Life was originally recorded by Kacey Cisyk.
It went on to be covered by a variety of artists, among them Johnny Mathis, LeAnn Rimes and Whitney Houston.
In an unrelated case, Brooks's son Nicholas is awaiting trial after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend in a New York hotel last December.
The 24-year-old has pleaded not guilty and is being held in Rikers Island jail in New York.
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