Steve Bing, ‘Kangaroo Jack’ writer, dies by suicide at 55

Steve Bing, an American producer, philanthropist and screenwriter, has reportedly died by suicide in Los Angeles.

According to TMZ, law enforcement agencies confirmed the 55-year-old movie mogul and father to Liz Hurley’s only child breathed his last after leaping off the 27th floor of a Century City apartment building on Monday.

Sources connected to Bing told the news outlet that the movie producer had been depressed about lack of human contact during his quarantine, although it’s yet to be confirmed if that was responsible for the suicide.

Bing became a top player in the US entertainment industry after inheriting $600 million from his grandfather on his 18th birthday, dropping out of Stanford University and using the money to found Shangri-La Entertainment, his own company.

He reportedly invested $80 million in ‘The Polar Express’, an animated Tom Hanks-voiced 2004 film directed by Robert Zemeckis that went on to gross nearly $300 million globally at the box office.

Among the works for which the deceased is also known is the action-comedy ‘Kangaroo Jack’ that he co-wrote in 2003 starring Anthony Anderson and Jerry O’Connell.

His credits as an executive producer include ‘Get Carter’ (2000), ‘Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World’ (2005), ‘Youth in Revolt’ (2009) and ‘Rock the Kasbah’ (2015).