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David Carradine
David Carradine (December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009),[2][3]
born John Arthur Carradine, was an American actor best known for his
work in the 1970s television series Kung Fu and more recently in the
Kill Bill films. He appeared in more than 100 feature films[4]
and was nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award.[5]
Early lifeCarradine was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Ardanelle Abigail (née McCool; 1911-1989)[6] and noted American actor John Carradine.[7] He was the half-brother of Bruce, Keith and Robert Carradine, as well as the uncle of Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton. Carradine had Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee ancestry.[8] Carradine attended Oakland Junior College[1] and later studied drama at San Francisco State College[1] before working as an actor on stage and in television and cinema. He changed his given name to David after starting his career.
CareerCarradine starred on Broadway in the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun, for which he won a Theatre World Award for Best Debut Performance in 1965.[9][10] He became widely known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s television series Kung Fu and later starred in the 1990s spinoff Kung Fu: The Legend Continues as the grandson of his original character. In films, he starred as 'Big' Bill Shelly in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha (1972), folksinger Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory (1976), Abel Rosenberg in Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977), and as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2 (released in 2003 and 2004, respectively). Other notable roles included the lead in Shane (the 1966 television series based upon the 1949 novel of the same name) and a gunslinger in Taggart, a 1964 western film based on a novel by Louis L'Amour. More recently, he portrayed Tempus, a powerful demon with the ability to manipulate time, on the popular television series Charmed, as well as Conrad in the television series Alias. Carradine twice played a supernatural being with the power to control time: "Tempus" on Charmed and "Clockwork" on Danny Phantom. Carradine appeared in an episode of the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire (in which his half-brother Robert was a series regular), and also provided his voice for the King of the Hill episode, Returning Japanese, in which he voiced the character of Hank's Japanese half-brother. He provided the voice for Lo Pei, the ancient warrior who was responsible for Shendu's petrification in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures. Carradine produced and starred in several exercise videos teaching the martial arts of Tai chi and Qi Gong. He had no knowledge of martial arts prior to starring in the series Kung Fu, but developed an interest in it after this experience and became an avid practitioner. Appearing in Wild West Tech on the History Channel, Carradine took over hosting duties from his brother Keith. He narrated the PBS anthropology series "Faces of Culture". In 2006, he became the spokesman for Yellowbook, a publisher of independent telephone directories in the United States. He was also the TV spokesperson for Lipton[11] ("This ain't no sippin' tea"), in a memorable commercial where he paid homage not only to Kung Fu, but also to The Three Stooges. Carradine also appeared in the music video for "Minus You" by the southern California band Chapel of Thieves, which was co-directed by the YouTube personality Boh3m3. He also worked with the Jonas Brothers in their video Burnin' Up, playing a Kung Fu master, and planned to work with Miley Cyrus. In 2009, he played a 100-year-old Chinese gangster in Crank: High Voltage. Personal lifeCarradine had a son, Free (b. 1972; name since changed to Tom) with Barbara Hershey, with whom he lived from 1972 to 1975.[12] Later, he was married five times.[12] He had a daughter Calista (b. 1962) by first wife Donna,[1][13] and a daughter Kansas (b. 1978) by second wife Linda. He had three other daughters—Amanda, Madeline and Olivia—and another son, Max.[12] Each of Carradine's first four marriages ended in divorce. On December 26, 2004, he married Annie[1] at the seaside Malibu home of his friend, Michael Madsen. The ceremony was performed by his attorney and his wife's longtime friend, Vicki Roberts. DeathOn June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit, in central Bangkok, Thailand.[2][3] A police official said Carradine was found hanging by a rope in the room's closet,[14][15] and the Bangkok Post reported that his body was found curled up in the wardrobe with a shoelace tied around his genitals and neck.[16] Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunand, a Thai forensic pathologist and Director of Central Institute of Forensic Science, stated the incident met four of the criteria for accidental death involving autoerotic asphyxiation. Police Lieutenant General Worapong Chewprecha, Commander of the Metropolitan Police, remarked that the closed circuit television installed within the hotel supported the theory that no other persons were involved with the death.[17][18][19][20] Carradine's representative and family members told the press that they believed the death to be accidental and not a suicide.[21] However it has also been reported that Carradine was found "with his hands tied behind his back." Chuck Binder, Carradine's manager, indicated neither suicide nor accident was the likely cause since "the family has been told Carradine's hands were immobilized (behind his back) by the rope."[22] Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot his latest movie, Stretch, and had been known to join the film crew for dinner. The crew noticed his absence when going out to dinner on June 3, but assumed he was simply taking the night off.[2] Awards
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