Jerry Heller, the "visionary" former manager of rap group N.W.A., has died in Thousand Oaks after being involved in a traffic accident. He was 75.

Heller died just after 10:20 p.m. Friday at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center, authorities said. Zeb Dunn with the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of death was unknown.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Office reported that Heller had been involved in a traffic accident possibly caused by a medical condition shortly before noon Friday in Thousand Oaks.

The Westlake Village resident was driving west on Triunfo Canyon Road approaching Westlake Boulevard when his vehicle hit the back of a minivan traveling in the same direction, authorities said. The minivan was pushed up and over the median and came to a stop in the eastbound lanes, officials said. Heller's vehicle stopped on top of the median, authorities said.

Heller was taken to Los Robles while experiencing cardiac arrest, the Ventura County Fire Department reported. He was placed on life support but never regained consciousness, according to his cousin Gary Ballen.

Ballen, of Oxnard, remembered his cousin fondly.

"He was a visionary," Ballen said. "He was the first one to bring Elton John to America." Ballen cited Heller's involvement with acts such as Marvin Gaye, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Pink Floyd as proof of his cousin's legacy.

Ballen recalled hearing N.W.A.'s seminal rap record "Straight Outta Compton" before it was released, with Heller saying, "This is going to be bigger than rock 'n' roll."

"I thought he was insane," recalled Ballen, who said his cousin "believed in the group."

The album launched the careers of rapper and actor Ice Cube, producer Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, who died in 1995 after a battle with AIDS. The Oscar-nominated 2015 movie "Straight Outta Compton," about the group's history, featured Paul Giamatti as Heller.

After serving in the Army and obtaining a business degree at the University of Southern California, Heller, originally from Cleveland, put down roots in Los Angeles and worked as a music tour promoter in the 1960s and '70s. In the late mid-to-late 1980s, he tried to dig himself out of a career slump and met Eazy-E (né Eric Wright), a Compton drug dealer angling to go legit.

Heller invested in Eazy-E's nascent label, Ruthless Records, arguably the birthplace of West Coast rap. But dissent began to grow as the members of N.W.A. became concerned that Heller had mismanaged them, withheld money and favored Eazy-E.

Ice Cube left the group in 1989 after a contract dispute with Heller and later filed suit against the band's manager in an attempt to recoup royalty money he said he was owed. Dr. Dre quit the band for financial reasons two years later. Eazy-E also felt he was being taken advantage of and fired Heller in 1994.

Heller had been embroiled in a lawsuit in recent months with the film's producers over his portrayal. Ballen said the lawsuit was moving forward but had "really stressed ... out" Heller.

"There were a lot of inaccuracies in the movie," Ballen said. "If he had been stealing money, someone would have sued him."

Heller sought $110 million in his lawsuit and alleged the film's producers did not ask permission to use his name or likeness and lifted plot points from his 2006 biography "Ruthless." A federal judge in June threw out all but one of the claims.

Heller had battled with Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and the band for years. Heller claimed he talked Eazy-E out of murdering Suge Knight, the bodyguard-turned-CEO of rival label Death Row Records. At the time, Heller told his client it didn't make business sense to kill a glorified bouncer. In a 2013 interview with "The Murder Master Music Show," he said he regretted stopping the murder.

"You know something? I should've let him kill him," Heller opined. "I would've done the world a favor."

To Ballen, those tough words aren't a full reflection of his late cousin.

"He was a tough guy and a really sweet guy," Ballen said. "There was a soft side of him."

Ballen said family members and friends were not prepared for the death of Heller, for whom services are pending.

"Nobody expected this. People are telling me that they talked to him yesterday," Ballen said. "Everybody is hurt."