David Carradine in Bound for Glory
David Carradine, the star of the 1970s TV series Kung Fu (right), was found hanged in his Bangkok hotel room early this morning. According to reports, there was no evidence of foul play at the scene. Carradine, who was in the Thai capital working on a film, was 72.
Born in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 1936, Carradine was the son of actor John Carradine, best known for playing assorted evildoers and mad doctors in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1980s. David Carradine's brothers are also actors: Keith Carradine, among whose credits is Robert Altman's classic Nashville, and Robert Carradine, best known for his role in the Revenge of the Nerds movies.
Throughout his 45-year career, David Carradine appeared in more than 200 features, made-for-TV movies, and television series. His most notable film role was that of singer Woody Guthrie in Hal Ashby's Academy Award-nominated 1976 biopic Bound for Glory, for which he won the National Board of Review's best actor award and received a Golden Globe nod for best actor – drama.
Additionally, Carradine worked for the likes of Burt Kennedy (Young Billy Young), Martin Scorsese (Boxcar Bertha), Paul Bartel (Cannonball!), Ingmar Bergman (The Serpent's Egg), Walter Hill (The Long Riders, opposite both Keith and Robert), and Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2).
For the second installment of the Kill Bill films, released in 2004, Carradine earned a best supporting actor Golden Globe nomination.
His best-known role, however, remains that of the peaceful warrior Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling through the 19th-century American West in the TV series Kung Fu, which aired between 1972-75. While supposedly doing his best to lead a peaceful existence, the priest always managed to find himself kicking ass before each episode was over.
Carradine, who developed a serious alcohol and drug addiction problem at one point, later wrote the book of memoirs Spirit of Shaolin, and made instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.
Carradine was married five times. In the early 1970s, he was the companion of Barbara Hershey, with whom he had a son.
David Carradine's ex-wife, Marina Anderson, has written a book about the late actor's death, "David Carradine: The Eye of My Tornado".
It was because of David that i decided to take Kung Fu lessons in Scarborough Ont. for many years and i am very saddened by his passing into the next world.Hopefully we,ll meet again my friend.
Yes David Carradine was the king, i have Kill Bill on DVD, and will certainly buy this tee with him, http://www.beastwear.se/David_Carradine.391?lang=en
Go to the light grasshopper.
This is just so sad. The end of an era. David Carradine was such a beloved Hollywood actor and a huge part of a lot of people's entertainment lives. He will be sorely missed.