Burt Bacharach, a songwriter, is grieving the loss of his only child, an actress named Angie Dickinson, who took her own life at the age of 40.
Nikki Bacharach committed suicide on Thursday night in her Thousand Oaks, California, residence after years of fighting the brain condition Asperger’s syndrome.
Lea Nikki Bacharach: How did she die?
Using a plastic bag and helium, she allegedly suffocated to death, according to the coroner’s office.
“She gently and sweetly committed herself to escape the devastation to her brain brought on by Asperger’s,” said Mr. Bacharach’s spokeswoman Linda Dozoretz.
She adored cats, Tahiti, blue skies, sunsets, meteor showers, glacial calving, earthquakes, and science.
As a result of a shoulder problem, her 78-year-old father canceled all of his engagements till July.
Lea Nikki Bacharach spent her first three months of life in an incubator after being born prematurely in 1966.
In 1969, as the severity of her disease started to become apparent, her father, who received Oscars for writing Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head and Arthur’s Theme, also penned a song about his daughter called Nikki.
Nikki attended Cal Lutheran University to study geology. She was able to complete the degree with the help of her father. But due to her bad eyesight, she was unable to pursue a career in the profession.
People with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, frequently have narrow interests and struggle to grasp other people’s points of view.
Nikki was the only child born to Mr. Bacharach and his second wife, Angie Dickinson, 75, whom he wed in 1965.