David Carradine

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David Carradine (December 8, 1936— June 3, 2009)was a popular American character actor of stage, director, martial artist, spokesman and singer, who in his four decades of television is best known for his work in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, the 1990s follow up television show, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, and more recently in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. He appeared in more than 100 feature films and was nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award.

Early life

He was born John Arthur Carradine in Hollywood, California, the son of Ardanelle Abigail (née McCool; 1911-1989)and noted American actor John Carradine (1906-1988).He was a brother of Bruce,half-brother of Keith, Christopher and Robert Carradine, and an uncle of Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton. His ancestry reportedly included Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee.In 1942, when he was only 5, he tried to commit suicide; his popular parents were divorcing as he was shuttled around foster homes, boarding and reform schools. Carradine graduated from Oakland Junior College, and studied drama at San Francisco State College,before becoming an actor. It was there that he took to writing music for the drama department's annual revues, and began openly experimenting with drugs. He was drafted in the U.S. Army. He adopted the name David when he began his television career.

Beginning in 1963, Carradine became a well-regarded character actor by making his debut on an episode of Armstrong Circle Theatre. The part led to other roles such as East Side/West Side, Arrest and Trial, Coronet Blue, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Trials of O'Brien, Gunsmoke, 3 episodes of Ironside, Night Gallery, The Family Holvak, The Fall Guy, Airwolf, Cimarron Strip, The Name of the Game, Amazing Stories, Night Heat, 3 episodes of Matlock, The Young Riders, Human Target, among many others, including his second-to-last guest-starring role was on In Case of Emergency.

Film/television career

He made his feature film debut in 1964 in Taggart, a western based on a novel by Louis L'Amour. Moving to the Broadway stage, he appeared in The Royal Hunt of the Sun, a play by Peter Shaffer about the destruction of the Inca empire by conquistador Francisco Pizarro. Carradine won a Theatre World Award for Best Debut Performance in 1965. He returned to TV in the series Shane, a 1966 western based upon a 1949 novel of the same name and previously filmed in 1953. In 1972, he starred as 'Big' Bill Shelly in one of Martin Scorsese's earliest films Boxcar Bertha, costarring Barbara Hershey.

Kung Fu and other roles

For three seasons, Carradine starred as Kwai Chang Caine on the ABC hit TV series Kung Fu (1972–1975) and was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award. Carradine was not in fact Chinese. He earned critical praise as folksinger Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory (1976) and won a National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, in addition to being nominated for a Golden Globe and New York Film Critics Circle Award. He played Abel Rosenberg in The Serpent's Egg (1977), set in post-World War I Berlin, the only Hollywood film made by legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. He also starred in the cult science-fiction classic Death Race 2000 (1975).

In 1983, he narrated the PBS anthropology series Faces of Culture. He appeared in a supporting role in North and South, a miniseries about the American Civil War with a large cast that included Patrick Swayze in a leading role. It was telecast in November 1985 and spawned two sequel miniseries. Carradine was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. He also appeared in North and South, Book II, telecast in May 1986. In 1986, Carradine appeared in the TV movie Kung Fu: The Movie, reprising his role as Kwai Chang Caine. Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee, in his acting debut) portrayed his son. The same year, Carradine appeared on the Steven Spielberg-created series Amazing Stories, in the episode Thanksgiving.

Kung Fu: The Legend Continues

Early in the decade, he was a spokesperson for Lipton ("This ain't no sippin' tea") in a memorable TV ad where he paid homage not only to Kung Fu but also The Three Stooges. He returned to series TV in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993–97) as the grandson of his original character. Though the film was produced in 1992, that quickly turned into a series, where it became a cult classic all over Canada. Also in its first season, it was an immediate hit. In addition to Carradine starring in the series, he served as Executive Producer and Director of Kung-Fu: The Legend Continues, making him the series' driving force. Carradine also became very popular with the one character he always associated with since 1972. Also starring on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues was an unfamiliar struggling actor, spokesperson and singer from Toronto, Chris Potter, in the role of Caine's crime-fighting son and partner, Peter Caine. The on- and off-camera relationship between Carradine & Potter were a huge success story of 1990s television, as the two had shared a lot of issues with each other, becoming close buddies, and very often, Potter putting up with Carradine's drinking issues, despite having an alcohol problem, and many more. Despite the show being popular, and with Carradine's alcohol problems escalated which put him in rehab prior to being sober, it was canceled in 1997, after 5 1/2 seasons, and 88 episodes, but later reruns aired on TNT and in syndication.

Other roles

In 1999, he portrayed Tempus, a powerful demon with the ability to manipulate time, on the series Charmed.

In 2001, he appeared in the episode The Serpent of the syndicated tv series Queen of Swords as the sword wielding bandit El Serpiente filmed at Texas Hollywood studio's, home of many spaghetti westerns, Southern Spain. Also in 2001, he appeared in an episode of the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire (on which his brother Robert was a regular performer). Also in 2001, he provided the voice for Lo Pei, the ancient warrior responsible for Shendu's petrification on the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures. In 2002, Carradine voiced a character on King of the Hill in the episode Returning Japanese, portraying Hank's Japanese half-brother Junichiro. In 2003, he appeared as Conrad on the series Alias.

In 2003, he produced and starred in several instructional videos on the martial arts of Tai chi and Qi Gong. These made him a natural as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, Vol. 1 (2003) and Vol. 2 (2004). In 2005, he took over hosting duties from his brother Keith on Wild West Tech on the History Channel. On two episodes of the animated series Danny Phantom (2005–2006), he provided the voice for "Clockwork", a supernatural being with the power to control time (similar to his 1999 role on Charmed). In 2006, he became the spokesman for Yellowbook, a publisher of independent telephone directories in the United States.

Carradine also appeared in the music video for "Minus You" by the Southern California band Chapel of Thieves, which was co-directed by YouTube personality Boh3m3.[citation needed] He also worked with the Jonas Brothers in their video Burnin' Up, playing a Kung Fu master, and planned to work with Miley Cyrus.[citation needed] In 2009, he played a 100-year-old Chinese gangster in Crank: High Voltage and guest-starred in the TV show Mental.

Personal life

Carradine had a son, Free (born 1972; name since changed to Tom) with Barbara Hershey, his domestic partner from 1972 to 1975.

Carradine was married five times. He had a daughter Calista (born April 1962) by first wife Donna (neé Donna Lea Becht, born September 26 1937) and a daughter Kansas (born April 19 1978) by second wife Linda (neé Linda Anne Gilbert, born March 16 1950). He had three stepdaughters, Amanda Eckelberry (born November 29 1989), Madeleine Rose (born April 4 1995) and Olivia Jane (born 1998) and a stepson, Max Richard (born 1998), who were all children of his fifth wife Annie Bierman (neé Anne Kirstie Fraser, born December 1960) from a previous relationship.

Each of Carradine's first four marriages ended in divorce. On December 26, 2004, he married Annie Bierman at the seaside Malibu home of his friend, Michael Madsen. Vicki Roberts, his attorney and longtime friend of his wife, performed the ceremony.

According to ex-wife Marina Anderson in an interview with Access Hollywood, "There was a dark side to David, there was a very intense side to David. People around him know that." Previously in her divorce filing she had claimed that "It was the continuation of abhorrent and deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly."

Carradine also had a stepmother from his father's second marriage, Sonia Sorel, who died in 2004, just 3 months before he married Annie.

Death

On June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissôtel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit Road, in central Bangkok, Thailand. A police official said Carradine was found hanging by a rope in the room's closet, and the Bangkok Post reported that his body was found curled up in the wardrobe with one end of a shoelace tied around his penis and the other end around his neck. The same officer said: "Under these circumstances we cannot be sure that he committed suicide." It has also been reported that Carradine was found "with his hands tied behind his back." Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot his latest film, Stretch, and was expected to join the film crew for dinner on June 3. The crew noticed his absence when going out, but they assumed that he took a rest because of his age.

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 leading to an autoerotic fatality. 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. Carradine's representative and family members told the press that they believed the death to be accidental and not a suicide. Chuck Binder, Carradine's manager of six years, 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." However, this is contradicted by photographic evidence from the scene published by Thai Rath newspaper, showing "hands apparently bound together above the head".

In July 2009, it was reported that a private pathologist, after carrying out a second autopsy, also ruled out the possibility of suicide, but was still unable to "determine whether Carradine's death was accidental or a homicide" and was awaiting further toxicology test results.

Two of Carradine's ex-wives (Gail Jensen and Marina Anderson) stated that his sexual interests included the practice of self-bondage.

Carradine's funeral was held on June 13, 2009 in Los Angeles. His casket was carried in a white hearse from Groman Eden Mortuary to his burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Among the many stars and family members that attended his private memorial were: Lucy Liu, Tom Selleck, Frances Fisher, James Cromwell, Steve Railsback, and Chris Potter.