But any number of things may have precipitated his death, each serving as a benchmark of his downfall.
There was his stroke, which left him unable to play the piano — devastating for a man who grew rich early in life writing jingles for Dr. Pepper and other products, then used his wealth to elbow his way into making movies in the early 1970s. He won an Academy Award for the title song in “You Light Up My Life,” a low-budget film from 1977 about a young singer with dreams of stardom.
In 2009, at age 71, Mr. Brooks was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting what became a total of 13 women, generally aspiring actresses whom he lured to his apartment in recent years on the fiction that he was casting them for a role, prosecutors say.
Last December, his 24-year-old son, Nicholas, was arrested after the young man’s girlfriend was found strangled in a bathtub at the SoHo House, a private Manhattan club. He was charged with murder and is being held without bail.
In recent months, Mr. Brooks, who was free on bail, was a diminished presence, walking with a cane and an ankle bracelet.
The manager of the Upper East Side restaurant where he ate most days, Burger Heaven, said Mr. Brooks could no longer even chew toast, instead taking his customary egg salad or tuna fish sandwich on soft bread.
There was to be a lunch date on Sunday with a friend, but it seemed as though Mr. Brooks did not intend to keep the appointment. According to a law enforcement official, he told his doorman at the building at 130 East 63rd Street that he was expecting a guest. The friend went upstairs and found the door unlocked. Mr. Brooks was dead, lying, fully clothed, on a couch in a den. His head was wrapped in a plastic bag, which was connected to a tube from a nearby helium tank, the official said.
The police said that Mr. Brooks, 73, left a three-page note that one law enforcement official described as “rambling.” In it, Mr. Brooks said he believed that he would ultimately have been exonerated on the rape allegations, the official said, adding that the letter did not appear to refer at all to his son, Nicholas.
Mr. Brooks wrote of a woman who he said was physically abusive toward him and had stolen a large sum of his money, the official said, adding that the letter also described his deteriorating health and the physical pain he felt.
Jeffrey C. Hoffman, a lawyer for both Joseph and Nicholas Brooks, did not return calls for comment.
A friend, Martin Davidson, a director in Los Angeles who worked with Mr. Brooks early in their careers, said he had heard reports of Mr. Brooks’s treating women inappropriately as early as the 1970s.
“I think the reason he killed himself is because of these allegations, and I believe them,” Mr. Davidson said.
“It’s truly tragic,” he said, adding, “I think about him all the time. What his life has been like. And then for that to happen to your own son.”
The criminal charges against Mr. Brooks stemmed from accusations of attacks dating from 2005. The authorities have said that there were other victims, but that the other assaults happened too long ago to be prosecuted.
Prosecutors say he found his victims on Craigslist and a talent Web site and lured them with possible acting roles. In some instances, officials said, the women flew from across the country to meet with him in his apartment.
The authorities said Mr. Brooks would impress the women with his Oscar, suggesting that if they followed his instructions they, too, could someday win. In an audition of sorts, he encouraged them to play the role of a prostitute and he would ply them with wine, officials said. His assistant, Shawni Lucier, who prosecutors said arranged for the travel of several of the women, was charged with facilitating the attacks.
At the time of his death, Mr. Brooks appeared to have money troubles. A Washington State court lodged a $2 million judgment against him in one case. He owed a former business partner money, according to court records, and another lawsuit was outstanding.
In recent years, Mr. Brooks was largely bereft of his friends.
Mr. Davidson, who lost touch with Mr. Brooks, recalled his surprise at finding himself in the seat of honor between Joseph and Nicholas Brooks for the opening of Mr. Brooks’ 2005 Broadway musical, “In My Life,” a love story about a singer with a brain tumor and Tourette’s syndrome.
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