"Kung Fu" Star David Carradine Found Dead

Actor Who Also Starred In "Kill Bill" Films Allegedly Hangs Self In Bangkok

(CBS/AP)  Actor David Carradine, a born seeker and cult idol who broke through as the willing student called "grasshopper" in the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" and decades later as leader of an assassin squad in "Kill Bill," was found dead Thursday in Thailand. Police said he appeared to have hanged himself.

The officer responsible for investigating the death, Teerapop Luanseng, said the 72-year-old actor was staying at a suite at the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel.

"I can confirm that we found his body, naked, hanging in the closet," Teerapop said. He said police suspected suicide.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

Chuck Binder, a member of Carradine's management team, told CBS News that Carradine was in Bangkok shooting a film.

Carradine came from an acting family. His father, John, made a career playing creepy, eccentric characters in film and on stage. His brothers Keith, Robert and Bruce also became actors. Actress Martha Plimpton is Keith Carradine's daughter.

"My Uncle David was a brilliantly talented, fiercely intelligent and generous man. He was the nexus of our family in so many ways, and drew us together over the years and kept us connected," Plimpton said Thursday.

Carradine was in Bangkok shooting the movie "Stretch," said his manager, Chuck Binder.

"We're very saddened, he was a wonderful guy," said Lori Binder, a partner in the agency that represented Carradine.

"It is shocking to me that he is no longer with us," said Michael Madsen, who played an assassin in "Kill Bill."

"I had been thinking about calling him for the last several days. ... I have so many great memories of David that I wouldn't even know where to begin. He has a very special place in my heart."

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid Thursday morning. It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the suite's curtains. It cited police as saying there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

Police said Carradine's body was taken to a hospital for an autopsy that would be done Friday.

Carradine appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. One of his early film roles was as folk singer Woody Guthrie in Ashby's 1976 biopic, "Bound for Glory."

But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series "Kung Fu," which aired in 1972-75.

"I wasn't like a TV star in those days, I was like a rock 'n' roll star," Carradine said in an interview with Associated Press Radio in 1996. "It was a phenomenon kind of thing. ... It was very special."

Actor Rainn Wilson, star of TV's "The Office," tweeted about Carradine's death on Twitter: "R.I.P. David Carradine. You were a true hero to so many of us children of the 70s. We'll miss you, Kwai Chang Caine."

Carradine reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues."

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill." Bill, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill - Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates, including Bill.

In "Kill Bill - Vol. 2," released in 2004, Thurman's character catches up to Bill. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actor.

Bill was a complete contrast to Caine, the soft-spoken refugee from a Shaolin monastery, serenely spreading wisdom and battling bad guys in the Old West. He left after three seasons, saying the show had started to repeat itself.

"David's always been kind of a seeker of knowledge and of wisdom in his own inimitable way," his brother, actor Keith Carradine, said in a 1995 interview.

After "Kung Fu," Carradine starred in the 1975 cult flick "Death Race 2000." He starred with Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977 and with his brothers in the 1980 Western "The Long Riders."

But after the early 1980s, he spent two decades doing mostly low-budget films. Tarantino's films changed that.

"All I've ever needed since I more or less retired from studio films a couple of decades ago ... is just to be in one," Carradine told The Associated Press in 2004.

"There isn't anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn't do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin's courage to take and put me in the spotlight."

One thing remained a constant after "Kung Fu": Carradine's interest in Asian herbs, exercise and philosophy. He wrote a personal memoir called "Spirit of Shaolin" and continued to make instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.

In the 2004 interview, Carradine talked candidly about his past boozing and narcotics use, but said he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.

"I didn't like the way I looked, for one thing. You're kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger."

"You're probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions," Carradine said. "Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.

"It's time to do nothing but look forward."

[mdeerfoot]

We grew up together. I miss you and the emotion you could always pull out of me no matter what kind of a day I was having. My heart to your family. Goodbye dear one, grandmother deerfoot

[blog_fever2]

INVESTIGATORS SUSPECT FOUL PLAY........ HIS HANDS WERE TIED BEHIND HIS BACK.

[Solarrays247]

Many years ago David Carradine talked about his pornographic comic book collection in an interview. Apparently he liked erotica. I personally don't care about his personal habits. I liked him as an actor.
Posted by cregis at 6:28 AM : Jun 5, 2009


Yes, me too. I liked his honesty about his own humanity. Rest In Peace, David.

[Solarrays247]

It is not likely a 72 year old man would be seeking pleasure in that way.
Posted by erb0087


Many years ago, I worked in a nursing home as an aide during the summers while I was attending university. Let me clue you in......many older people, even those at a fairly advanced age, still retain an interest in sensuous pleasures. It is natural! Thank God!

[CLoverNYC1]

The article is sad though.

I mean, how'd you like to be remembered as that kung fu guy who died in an 'autoerotic accident' otherwise known as jangling his joint with a rope

[MiddleClassWorker]

He was working on a sequel to "Hidden Tiger Crouching Dragon" called "Hiding in closet Spanking Monkey".

[CLoverNYC1]

Ok, so it wasn't a suicide.

Does the general public need to know David Carridine died with a rope tied around his johnson. Geez.

[cregis]

Many years ago David Carradine talked about his pornographic comic book collection in an interview. Apparently he liked erotica. I personally don't care about his personal habits. I liked him as an actor.

[rf35]

It is not likely a 72 year old man would be seeking pleasure in that way.
Posted by erb0087

While it may have been a plain old murder or even suicide, it is still entirely possible it was something else. There are plenty of elderly men who are still interested in "fringe" experiences. Having been involved in a somewhat "borderline" lifestyle myself in the past, I was surprised at how many older people were part of that and far more extreme activities. Considering Thailand's reputation, I don't find it that farfetched.

[tmn]

"Thailand is famous (or infamous) for the "sex tourist" trade where one can indulge virtually any fantasy or perversion for the right price."
---
A public service message from the Thailand Tourism Board. Hope to see you soon!

[promaclaura]

When I think of David it will be remembering his Kung Fu character that my family always sat down to watch. How he died is fodder, a blip compared to the hours of viewing pleasure he brought to the tv screen.

[kerry4ever]

"I hope the Thai police aren't swallowing that one too quickly."

No, they will spit it out.

[erb0087]

Most men are no longer obsessed by sex at 72 years of age.

Even a virile old guy like Hugh Hefner or Warren Beatty wouldn't be caught dead (pardon the expression) doing something as juvenile and faddish as autoerotic asphyxiation.

I hope the Thai police aren't swallowing that one too quickly.

[erb0087]

It is not likely a 72 year old man would be seeking pleasure in that way.

Especially a 72 year old Hollywood actor with a lot of money who, who would know about more refined and sophisticated pleasures, and be able to afford them.

Autoerotic asphyxiation is what a stupid adolescent kid would do, who is still in the early stages of sexual experimentation. I've never heard of a senior citizen doing something like that. Never.

This looks like a staged scene to cover up a homicide.

[erb0087]

The cords around both his neck and genitals suggest some sort of autoerotic asphyxiation session gone wrong. Thailand is famous (or infamous) for the "sex tourist" trade where one can indulge virtually any fantasy or perversion for the right price.
==============================

It is not likely a 72 year old man would be seeking pleasure in that way.

It's more likely his murderers wanted it to look that way, to reduce his life to a sorry punch line.

[rf35]

Unfortunate. Mr. Carradine was a unique and talented actor.

According to the CNN article, his wife and manager do not buy the suicide story. From the limited information available, I would tend to agree. The cords around both his neck and genitals suggest some sort of autoerotic asphyxiation session gone wrong. Thailand is famous (or infamous) for the "sex tourist" trade where one can indulge virtually any fantasy or perversion for the right price. I would hope this is not the case, but...
As is typical in such countries, the whole story may never come to light. My condolances to the Carradine family.

[erb0087]

"There isn't anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn't do," he said.
=======================

With all due respect, David Carradine would have made a lousy Hannibal Lector.

Jody Foster would have burst out laughing.

[ziegfrid]

BOYCOTT THAILAND 3 TOURIST KILLED IN ONE MONTH. I AM NOT SURF ABOUT DAVID BUT IT LOOKS SUSPICIOUS. THE OTHER 2 WOMEN WERE POISONED. I WOULD NOT GO TO THAILAND NOW. OR ARUBA.

[veils-2009]

He was a great actor and an inspiration.
Until now,
F U ***** Carradine. Killing youself shows what a real looser you are and that all you pretended to be was just a scam. F U all the way to hell.
Thanks for thinking about your loved ones as you put the rope around your neck.

[bajajohn1]

Rest in peace, Grasshopper.