Film producer and financier, real estate heir and Democratic political donor Steve Bing died at age 55. The Los Angeles County coroner said it was suicide.
Bing produced the 2000 film Sylvester Stallone Get Carter and was a major investor in Tom Hanks’ 2004 animated film The Polar Express. He co-wrote the 2003 comedy Kangaroo Jack, which was criticized by critics but earned nearly $ 90 million at the box office. He was also a producer on Martin Scorsese’s 2008 Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light, and co-produced with Mick Jagger on an upcoming documentary on Jerry Lee Lewis.
“It is very sad to hear of Steve Bing’s death,” Jagger wrote on Twitter. “He was such a kind and generous friend and supported so many good and just causes. I’m going to miss him a lot. “
Bing was the son of Peter Bing, a public health physician and philanthropist, and the grandson of Leo Bing, a New York real estate developer who left him hundreds of millions of dollars that he inherited when he turned 18.
In the 1980s, Steve Bing left his father’s alma mater, Stanford University, to which Elder Bing had donated $ 50 million, for a career in Hollywood. He earned early credits as a co-writer on the 1984 film Chuck Norris Vietnam Vet Missing in Action and its two sequels. He wrote an episode of the comedy Married With Children, and in 1994 he wrote and directed his own little movie, Every Breath, starring Judd Nelson.
Bing donated millions to the Democratic Party and its candidates, including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Nancy Pelosi, and to campaigns for liberal-leaning voting initiatives in California, as well as to various charities.
Bill Clinton tweeted: “I loved Steve Bing very much. He had a great heart and was willing to do everything possible for the people and causes he believed in. I will miss him and his enthusiasm more than I can say, and I hope he has finally found peace. ”
Bing was a member of Los Angeles high society who frequently dated famous women and was often seen on red carpets, with big dollar benefits and on the field at Lakers games. In his 30s, he was involved in a couple of high-profile lawsuits focused on his possible paternity of two children, which attracted media attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
A DNA test required by a British court in 2002 showed that he was the father of the model and actor’s young son Elizabeth Hurley, whom he had dated.
The same year, he sued movie tycoon Kirk Kerkorian, alleging that Kerkorian had hired a private detective to check Bing’s trash for DNA for another paternity test, this one to determine if Bing was the father of a girl born to Kerkorian’s then wife Lisa Bonder That lawsuit was settled out of court.
The two children, Damian Hurley and Kira Kerkorian, have been named in recent court fights over whether they will inherit the trust established by Bing’s father.
Steve Bing’s family members could not be reached for comment.
