He eventually began a professional partnership with Jerry Bruckheimer, and together, they produced hit films such as Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and The Rock (1996).
As his stature in Hollywood grew, Simpson became notorious for his debauched lifestyle, which included severe and longstanding substance abuse, and he ultimately died from heart failure caused by an overdose of cocaine and prescription drugs.
He later moved to San Francisco where he worked for a theatrical advertising agency and did public relations for the First International Erotic Film Festival.
[5] In the early 1970s, Simpson started working for Jack Wodell & Associates in San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles.
[12] The success of Flashdance prompted Simpson and Bruckheimer to launch their own production company that was affiliated with Paramount Pictures.
Simpson and Bruckheimer blamed Paramount for the film's lackluster box-office returns, saying the studio rushed its planning and release.
Their next films, Dangerous Minds, Crimson Tide, and Bad Boys (distributed by Columbia Pictures rather than Disney), all released in 1995, returned them to success.
[21] Simpson claimed he discovered Michael Mann, launched Debra Winger's career and cast Richard Gere for American Gigolo.
[8] According to director Robert Altman, Simpson opposed the proposed casting of Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl for the project Popeye by standing up at a 1979 meeting of studio executives and saying, "Well, I wouldn't want to fuck her.
He was a fixture on the "Hollywood cocaine-party" circuit throughout the 1970s and '80s, and in his later years became known for throwing lavish all-night parties at his mansion.
[26] The excessive spending (in both films and his personal life) and erratic mood swings caused by his drug use were well known in Hollywood by the 1990s.
[26][27] In August 1995, Ammerman died at Simpson's residence, from what was later determined to be an accidental overdose of cocaine, Valium, venlafaxine, and morphine.
[26][28] Frustrated with Simpson's escalating drug use and declining work, Bruckheimer terminated their partnership in December 1995.
An autopsy and toxicology report later determined that Simpson had died of heart failure caused by combined drug intoxication (cocaine and prescription medications).
[23] In August 1996, investigative reporter Chuck Philips of the Los Angeles Times revealed that Simpson had been obtaining large quantities of prescription drugs from 15 different doctors, and that police found 2,200 prescription pills lined up in alphabetical order in his bedroom closet.
[26][33] A 1998 book by journalist Charles Fleming reported that Simpson's prescription drug expenses totaled more than $60,000 a month at the time of his death.