Bing Washington Hollywood stuntman Loren Janes dies at 85
Mystic — Bing Herbert Washington, 74, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.
He was born in Ballinger, Texas, on Jan. 20, 1943, to James Washington and Cleopas (Mack) Washington. Bing attended George Washington Carver High School where he graduated in 1961 as class valedictorian. Bing had a special talent for drawing and painting and won a scholarship to Tillerson College in San Antonio, Texas. He attended for one year, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he attended Hospital Corps School.
He served his country bravely during the Vietnam War where he attended the medical needs of his fellow wounded soldiers in battle. He also earned several medals of commendation. After his military service ended in 1971, Bing worked in Washington, D.C., as a unit manager at Georgetown University Hospital and as a drywall contractor in New London. In 1994, Bing graduated from the practical nurse education program at Norwich Technical School. He worked as an LPN in South Carolina, North Carolina and Connecticut.
Bing was an excellent, compassionate nurse, who had a special affinity for comforting the sick. He was an accomplished artist and painted many beautiful portraits. He had a distinct gift for capturing not only a true likeness but the true essence of his subject’s spirit. Bing’s greatest attribute was his kind and gentle soul. A brave but sensitive man, he cared more about others than himself. He was a loving husband, and best friend to his wife, Julia.
He was predeceased by his parents, James and Cleophas Washington; brother, Willie Washington; and son, Lonnie Washington.
He is survived by his wife, Julia, of Mystic; daughters, Theresa Bratten and husband, Troy of New Jersey and Patricia Washington of Texas; brother, James and wife, Pat, of California; and sister, Pattie-Sue Moore of California; also grandchildren and step-daughters.
Graveside services will held at 11 a.m. Friday at Elm Grove Cemetery, Mystic.
Donations in Bing’s name may be made to Wounded Warriors.
Los Angeles — In film after film, Loren Janes leaped from speeding trains, jumped from towering cliffs and roared through city streets in gravity-defying car chases.
That’s him flying headlong into a saguaro cactus in “How the West Was Won.” That’s him tumbling down a staircase alongside a drunken John Wayne in “McLintock.” And that’s him — not Steve McQueen — fishtailing down Tyler Street in San Francisco at 90 mph in “Bullitt.”
In a career that spanned decades and with a resume that included westerns, thrillers, comedies, dramas and science fiction, Janes was the person the studio could count on when the script called for someone to be thrown from a window, dropped into the ocean or shot dead outside a saloon.
“There is a certain idiot element with some stunt people, but Loren was just the opposite,” said Mark Evanier, a Los Angeles-based comic book and television writer. “He took his work seriously and, remarkably, he never broke a bone.”
A lifelong Los Angeles resident, Janes died June 24 at 85. He had Alzheimer’s disease. He outlived many of the actors he was hired to double in scenes deemed too risky for a highly paid celebrity.
When a script called for Esther Williams to leap from an 80-foot cliff in “Jupiter’s Darling,” Janes pulled on a wig, the appropriate swimming attire and jumped into the ocean. He did the same for McQueen, a temperamental actor who liked to do his own stunt work and seemed put out when the director told him he wanted Janes to do the dirty work in a particularly tricky escape scene in “Wanted Dead or Alive.”
“So I ran and dove through the window, turned a complete somersault, landed on my feet, ran, hit the corner of that wooden walkway and vaulted over two horses, cleared them totally, lit on the third horse, which was Steve’s, in the saddle and grabbed it and off and around the corner.”
McQueen was so impressed with the deftness of the stunt, Janes told National Public Radio in a 2001 interview, that he agreeably deferred stunt work to Janes thereafter. The two went on to work together for 21 years.
Janes was born in Sierra Madre Oct. 1, 1931, and attended Pasadena City College and then California State University, San Luis Obispo, before joining the Marines during the Korean War. He taught math and science at a private high school in San Fernando and made the U.S. Olympic team in 1956 and again in 1964, both times competing in the pentathlon.
In 2016, Janes and his wife, Jan, lost their Canyon County home in the Sand fire. The blaze destroyed much of the memorabilia he’d collected during his career.