NEWS: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head: Burt Bacharach's Daughter Takes Her Own Life

CELEB: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head: Burt Bacharach's Daughter Takes Her Own Life

In a tragic end to her lifetime struggle with the devastating emotional and physical effects of Asperger's syndrome, Nikki Bacharach, the daughter of famed pop composer Burt Bacharach and actress Angie Dickinson, took her own life Thursday night at her home in Thousand Oaks, California. She was 40-years-old.

A statement from family spokesperson Linda Dozoretz read,

Asperger's syndrome, a form of Autism, is a neurobiological developmental disorder characterized by normal levels of intelligence and language development that are impeded by mild to severe deficiencies in social skills, communication abilities, learning disabilities, sometimes clumsy motor skills and obsessive/repetitive behavioral traits. People diagnosed with the syndrome have an increased prevalence of comorbid psychiatric conditions such as depression, mood disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Burt Bacharach (whose hitmaking resume includes "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me," and "What the World Needs Now Is Love") documented his daughter's struggle with the disorder in his 1971 song "Nikki."

Condolences to the Bacharach family.

-TM

Sorry to hear this

That's so sad. I love love love Burt Bacharach... terrible thing to happen to his family.

Sad news.

And by the way, some might consider a clever article headline like this one to be in poor taste for this kind of news.

=[

my cousin has Asperger's syndrome, its pretty butt.

My sister too. This is so sad.

sad now

My hearst goes out to the family - I truly feel for those afflicted with autism of any variety, and the normal cognitive ability of Asberger's patients impeded by other subpar functions has to be a horrible thing to deal with.

Being 40 isn't that bad. . .

Kitties, earthquakes, and glacial calving?? Talk about eclectic tastes!!

What a shame.... such nice parents, and now this happens to them.

Plus one.

Hey, I hope I have a line in my epitaph as interesting and eclectic as that!

That is so horrible. I love Burt Bacharach's music. I can't imagine how he must be suffering now. And I can't imagine the pain Nikki must have lived with.

Yeah. You know, not every published article needs a snarky headline. Sometimes, it's nice to just play things straight up.

My first reaction, too.

That horrible, my 14 year old nephew has aspergers syndrome too and my sister has such a hard time helping him...

That is terribly sad.
I'm wondering a bit if this was an assisted suicide or she acted entirely alone.
Suffocating yourself with a plastic bag of helium seems an unusual choice.
I rarely think of suffocation as " peaceful " , quiet maybe.