David Carradine was born John Arthur Carradine, Jr. in Los Angeles on December 8, 1936. He was the son of celebrated actor John Carradine and his first wife Ardanelle. John Sr. would later remarry (again and again). As a result, John Jr. was brother to a handful of half-siblings, including Bruce, Keith, Christopher and Lewis Skolnick himself, Robert.
After a tour with the army, Carradine decided to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming an actor. It was at this point that he legally changed his name to David, so as to avoid any confusion between the two.
He had early roles on such TV series as Gunsmoke, Ironside, and Night Gallery. Then in 1972, he landed the role that would not only define his career but would change his life as well, that of martial arts expert Kwai Chang Caine on Kung Fu. The series ran for three seasons with reruns continuing for years in syndication. Although Carradine had no previous experience in the martial arts, he embraced the techniques and the culture into his daily life. This was evident years after its cancellation, when he was cast by Director Quentin Tarantino as the title character in the martial arts film series Kill Bill.
With his career reinvigorated, Carradine flew to Bangkok in late May 2009, having signed on to appear in the film Stretch. He was last seen alive on June 3rd. When he failed to report to the set the next day, investigators went to his hotel room, where he was found dead, hanging in a closet. While there was no suicide note, authorities did find rope attached to his genitalia, leading them to conclude that he accidentally died by his own hand, a case of auto-erotic asphyxiation. He was 72 years old.
David Carradine was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.
There is a lot of text on this one, which this blogger suspects that Carradine wrote himself. It reads as follows:
He will ever more be revered as one who popularized the spiritual values of the east in the west.
Dancer, musician, artist, actor, producer, director, writer, composer, storyteller, poet, philosopher, aesthete, academician, martial artist, master, teacher, Kung Fu.
Devoted and loving brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, uncle and friend.
"I'm lookin' for a place where the dogs don't bite, and children don't cry and everything always goes just right and brothers don't fight....." --David Carradine
Rest in peace.
Trivia
- Carradine authored a series of martial arts book as well as an autobiography. Check out his library of work at Amazon.
- Five years after his death, Carradine was posthumously inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum in Glendale, California.
- Unhappy with the relationship of his father and stepmother, Carradine attempted to commit suicide when he was just five years old. His preferred method? Hanging.
- Carradine appeared with his father and two half-brothers, Keith and Robert, in a 1984 episode of The Fall Guy entitled "October the 31st." Adding further titillation to this Halloween-centric episode is an appearance by TV hostess Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, aka Cassandra Peterson. You can watch a recording of the 1984 broadcast, complete with commercials, on YouTube.
- In 1987, Carradine marketed his own tai chi workout video. Check out this hilarious commercial for it on YouTube.
- In 1993, Carradine returned to television in a revival of his signature series, now titled Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. The series ran for four seasons in first-run syndication, surpassing the original series, which had only lasted for three.
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