R.I.P. Bob Hoskins The Window Cleaner Who Became A Household Name

Arguably Hoskins was the perfect big-screen Cockney: immensely companionable, and someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. Bob Hoskins, known for roles in films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Long Good Friday, has died from pneumonia at the age of 71.

Bob Hoskins: the window-cleaner who became a household name - Bob Hoskins, known for roles in films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Long Good Friday, has died from pneumonia at the age of 71. As a star – he was certainly that, and at 5ft 6in maybe the shortest one Britain’s ever produced – Bob Hoskins boasted the inseparable Cockney traits of being immensely companionable and someone you wouldn’t want to mess with, often at the same time. His first major film role, it’s true, gave us rather more of the latter: as Harold Shand, the indomitable antihero of John Mackenzie’s The Long Good Friday (1980), he was a fireball of raging ambition, stopping at nothing to consolidate his empire.

It was only later that a cuddlier and sadder Hoskins emerged from that blistering initial impression. If Harold felt like a character practically defined by small-man syndrome, Hoskins charged into the rest of his film career as if determined to seem less angry with every subsequent part. The key transitional film was Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa (1986) – another classic take on seedy London criminality, but one with an undisguised romanticism at its core. Hoskins’s George seems so obviously tired of the scene that he’s a much more redeemable creation: a gangster with soul.

This performance, which won Hoskins Best Actor in Cannes and an Oscar nomination, was just the boost he needed to make a go of things in Hollywood, and a busy decade followed as the pay-cheques piled up. Robert Zemeckis and co made the noble decision to cast Hoskins, instead of the mooted and much more obvious Harrison Ford or Bill Murray, as the private dick hero of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). It can’t have seemed too enviable a job, on paper – months on sound stages acting opposite a non-existent lapine co-star? But, through sheer energy and force of personality, Hoskins knocked the role of Eddie Valiant for six. It must have been gratifying beyond belief when the film was a smash hit, and this one-time window cleaner found himself installed at last as a household name.

R.I.P. Window Cleaner Lee Teske

Lee Teske, a recent start-up in window cleaning.

Man cleaning windows dies after 70-foot-fall at St. Cloud hotel: A man who was cleaning windows Sunday at the Kelly Inn in downtown St. Cloud fell 70 feet to his death in what police are saying was probably an accident. Firefighters responded to the scene at about 5:08 p.m. Sunday. Police were called about 15 minutes later and learned that the man had been cleaning windows and fell approximately 70 feet, said Assistant Police Chief Sue Stawarski.

Police were unable Monday to confirm the man’s identity, but family members identified him as Lee Teske, 56. He was self-employed and had experience working as a window washer in downtown Minneapolis and in St. Cloud, according to his sister, Dawn Witschen. He worked alone and didn’t have any employees, she said.

Teske had a safety harness on that rescue workers had to remove when they were treating him, said Greg Newinski, battalion chief at the St. Cloud Fire Department. Teske apparently fell onto the breezeway that connects the Kelly Inn to the River’s Edge Convention Center. He then fell from the breezeway to the ground, Newinski said.

Officials from the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration were in St. Cloud on Monday to review the details of the case, said James Honerman, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

He said that window washing has been a point of focus for OSHA. During the time period of 2009-2011, three Minnesota workers died on the job while washing windows, he said. That led to the creation of a program that started in March 2012 that focused on making window washing safer. Minnesota also was the first in the nation to have a window-washing safety standard, he said.

R.I.P. Window Cleaner Ernest Albert Day

Ernie, started cleaning windows in 1935, aged 21, when he would earn £1 for every 120 windows he washed.

Ex-window cleaner Ernie dies aged 97: A window cleaner from Newmarket who worked in the town’s High Street for 58 years has died. Ernest Albert Day died at his home in Cedar Lodge, Culford, on Wednesday, February 1, at the age of 97. Mr Day, known as Ernie, started cleaning windows in 1935, aged 21, when he would earn £1 for every 120 windows he washed. He worked up until his retirement at the age of 79.

His daughter, Susan Cox, of Bolton Close, Burwell, said he was often stopped in the street for a chat by the many people he had worked for over the years. She said: “I don’t think you will find anyone in Newmarket that won’t know him. There were only about two shops in the whole of the High Street that he didn’t clean. “They broke the mould when they made Dad. He was what you would call a true gentleman. People would talk to him and he would listen and you knew it wouldn’t go any further. He wouldn’t turn anyone away. I never heard him swear or say a bad word about anyone. He will be sorely missed.”

Born in Newmarket on March 4, 1914, Mr Day was the youngest of six children and attended All Saints Primary School, which he left at the age of 14. His many jobs before window cleaning included working at a bicycle shop, a greengrocer’s, a dairy and Newmarket’s former Kingsway cinema, where he met his wife, Edith, who died in 2010, aged 91, just three weeks away from the couple’s 70th wedding anniversary.

During the Second World War, Mr Day served in the Burma Campaign, which he joined one month after his wedding at Newmarket’s All Saints Church. He returned to window cleaning after the war and spent 20 years driving Green Goddess fire engines with the Auxiliary Fire Service. He leaves behind his daughter, Susan, grandchildren Anita, 41, from Burwell, and Maryjane, 38, from Soham, and six great grandchildren. His funeral will be held at West Suffolk Crematorium on Friday, February 24, at 10am. Mr Day’s family have asked that, instead of sending flowers, donations be made to the Burma Star Association.

Manchester Pays Respects to Window Cleaner

With the tools of his trade - a metal ladder and plastic bucket - tethered to the roof, just as they had been during his decades as a much-loved window cleaner, Tony Durrant went on his final round. More than a hundred gathered to say a fond farewell following the sad death of a Salford legend known for much more than just his family trade. But it was a homage to his window cleaning business which formed the centrepiece of his horse-drawn hearse.
The mourners flocked towards St Michael's All Angels Church in Liverpool Road, Eccles to pay their respects after Tony passed away on November 19, losing a battle with lung cancer.
The father-of-two had run his self-named family business from his Peel Green home in Gorton Street for 40 years and his family had lived in Salford since the 1920s. He was a popular member of the Eccles community.

Family members decided to put ladders and a bucket belonging to the 64-year-old window cleaner on top of an elegant horse drawn glass carriage which carried his coffin to Peel Green cemetery, making it a poignant moment for the 150 mourners that followed. After playing pool for England, Tony had set up a local pool team for Eccles. He was also hailed a maths ‘genius’ and won three rounds of the popular TV quiz show Countdown.
Tony passed away just 18 weeks after his wife, Yvonne, sadly lost her battle with cancer.
He left behind his daughter, Kay, 42, and 21-year-old son Richard, as well as two grandchildren and sister Jean. Kay said: "He was diagnosed with lung cancer 12 weeks ago and was given 12 weeks from diagnosis to death. "In 2003 he was also diagnosed with amaloydosis, a very rare condition which meant he had to travel to London for treatment. "He was an absolute genius at maths - he was much better than Carol Vorderman." During his life, Tony was known for his generosity in the community and the unexpected masses of mourners were made up of old friends he knew through his heyday years spent playing pool in the pubs throughout Eccles.
Tony was also the man behind a mystery £1,000 donation made last year to the terminally-ill Eccles girl, Sophie Vigne, who was able to enjoy the holiday of a lifetime thanks to his generosity.
Kay said: "He was always straight with people but also a bit of a softy.
"His saying was ‘don't be greedy’. "He just wanted to have enough money to look after himself, and the rest he gave to others. "I read a eulogy at the funeral - it was a really heartfelt one and I smiled because while I was reading it my auntie Jean said: ‘I think there's a man from every pub in Eccles here.’" It is hoped Tony's window cleaning company will be passed on through the family and his son Richard (pictured below) will carry on window cleaning under the name Tony Durrant and Son.
Richard said: "I‘m going to miss my dad, he was my best friend and I hope that through taking on the family business, I can do the best I can for him."

R.I.P. Robert Domaszowec

For Robert Domaszowec's children, his work as a window washer was dangerous only because their mother said so. The dedicated father of three didn't make a big deal about hanging hundreds of feet above some of Manhattan's storied landmarks - and his kids didn't worry much about him. So it was with unspeakable shock and sadness that they learned that Domaszowec, 49, plunged 12 stories to his death Tuesday while working in Greenwich Village. "He never made a big issue about it," his daughter, Larissa Domaszowec, 18, said yesterday. "When he left for work every day, we never considered the danger an immediate threat. But it was always in the back of our minds." Just a day before the tragic accident, Domaszowec had driven his daughter to Ithaca College, where she was set to begin her sophomore year. The next day, her older brother drove up to the school and delivered the tragic news: Their father's safety hooks failed as he worked on a building on Fifth Ave. and he fell to his death. "It hit me like a ton of bricks," Larissa Domaszowec said. "It's the last thing you would expect to hear. To say I was devastated is the biggest understatement possible." She and her brothers, ages 12 and 28, grew up hearing their mother, Tracey, tell them that their father's work - a trade he followed his father and uncle into - was as dangerous as a firefighter's job. Their dad counted some of the city's greatest landmarks as clients, including St. Patrick's Cathedral and Bloomingdale's, in the 25 years he worked as a window washer. Domaszowec worked for Techniclean Corp. but kept a list of steady patrons for whom he would do cleaning as an independent contractor, his family said. He was an experienced worker and on the day of his fatal fall, he was wearing a harness. Officials from the city Buildings Department's scaffold safety team and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are probing what caused the hooks to give, officials said. Sources said the building at 40 Fifth Ave. will likely be issued a violation for failing to maintain the exterior wall. Domaszowec was born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to Ukrainian parents and moved his family to upstate Kerhonkson 10 years ago to be closer to his outdoor hobbies - fishing and hunting. And if he wasn't fixing something around the house, he was most likely "cracking a joke or trying to push your buttons," Larissa Domaszowec said. "My dad was probably the funniest man I know."

R.I.P Jim Willingham

It was a quick announcement yesterday, but I don't think anyone was expecting the passing of Jim so soon. Here are just a few of the responses:

"Throughout the day I thought about Jim, his commitment to the window cleaning industry, and how his efforts helped bring so many people together around a common interest. A new community was built around those growing interests. The work within that community, in agreement and disagreement, demanded an unselfish leadership that constantly reminded everyone that our self interests could be melded into and served by a dynamic, effective organization. Jim Willingham provided that kind of leadership and set the example for others to do the same. The bonds of friendship that are created from the difficult work of giving birth to, and sustaining, a meaningful, dynamic organization like the IWCA, transcend physical association into the realm of heart and soul. I look at the list of names that received this message from you, Sam, and marvel at the connections we all have to one another. Connections formed and graced by working in, working for, helping people develop a professional approach to window cleaning, while developing a professional association. I hope I speak for others in saying I became a better person as I learned to put into practice what I learned from these associations in the International Window Cleaners Association. All this initiated and set in motion by a down home, cowboy whose gentle, humorous style and sometimes stubborn insistence brought about the focus of the creative energies of so many. God love him, God keep him, and let us all hold him fondly, individually, and somehow in the collective memory of the organization that he worked so hard to create and sustain." Jerry Rigdon

I found it hard to believe when I first saw this thread coming through. I thought that surly someone had gotten it wrong.

Of course our thoughts are with Jacinda. Jim and Jacinda have certainly had an impact on each of us in this business; whether we knew Jim personally or not. Jim was one of very few people, that when he gave me advice or suggestions, I knew it would do me well to listen carefully. He was certainly a straight shooter, and never boring to spend some time with. Even though I had not spent much time with him of late, I find myself missing him already. Steve Miller

Jim has been my friend, role model and window cleaning idol. A sad day to hear Jim is gone. I will miss you, Jim. Gordon Perrot

Words sometimes get used to make someone larger than life. Platitudes are spoken about people that may not really deserve them. Words like legend, icon, vanguard, mentor and role model. Every one of those words really and truly apply to Jim Willingham. He wasn't just a window cleaner, although You Tube evidence exists to show just how good he really WAS as a window cleaner. There was so much more to Jim, and by extension, Jacinda. Always quick to help where needed, founding member of the IWCA, willing to mentor others in the industry, quick with a joke, and about as straightforward and honest as you'd expect a good Texan to be. Jim would treat you with the same patience, dignity, and respect whether you operated a multi-state company with dozens of employees, or you just bought a set of gear yesterday and were just starting out. He didn't pull punches or play politics in an industry and association that sometimes does too much of both. I've known Jim for 19 years, and I will miss not seeing him around. We did in fact lose a legend today, and an icon, and a role model. And many of us, far too many of us, lost a friend. Godspeed Jim, and be strong Jacinda. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you. Jeff Klass

This is truly a sad day for the industry. Jim was one of the most selfless men I ever had the pleasure of getting to know. Jim joined us at J. Racenstein with one goal; to make the industry better. He was always excited to meet window cleaners (large companies to small) and help them do better for themselves. He traveled tirelessly even when sick spreading the word. Jim was proud of the industry and loved everybody in it; he even loved his competitors in Lubbock; I never heard Jim utter a negative word about a window cleaner; if you were in his industry you were his friend. The only thing he loved more than his industry is Jacinda. I am grateful to have spent so much time with Jim during the past couple of years. He taught me so much about the industry and I will always be grateful for that. But more importantly he showed me how a true gentleman conducts himself through thick and thin. The entire team at JRC and I will miss him terribly; he was our friend. Cameron Riddell

Jim can be seen doing his stuff here. Thanks for the memories.