BURT BACHARACH - BURT BACHARACH'S DAUGHTER COMMITS SUICIDE

The daughter of pop composer Burt Bacharach has committed suicide.

Lea Nikki Bacharach, 40, died on Thursday night at her home in northern Los Angeles, a statement released by Linda Dozoretz, the family's spokesperson said.

"She quietly and peacefully committed suicide to escape the ravages to her brain brought on by Asperger's," Ms Dozoretz said.

Ms Bacharach had suffered from Asperger's syndrome all her life but, unable to cope with the disease, suffocated herself to death using a plastic bag and helium gas.

She was the only child of the marriage between Bacharach and actress Angie Dickinson, who starred in both versions of Ocean's Eleven, Rio Bravo and Point Blank.

Bacharach, 78, is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s, when, among other projects, he composed the soundtracks to the original Casino Royale film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and What's New Pussycat.

He and 75-year-old Dickinson were married between 1965 and 1981.