1936-2009
The world of martial arts entertainment lost one of its most important and influential stars today as David Carradine was found dead in a hotel room in Thailand on June 4 at the age of 72. He was in Thailand shooting his new movie “Stretch” when he was found in his room dead of an apparent suicide.
Carridine was most know for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the genre-breaking Kung Fu/Western television show “Kung Fu.” It was there that the term “Grasshopper” became synonymous with the martial arts and Carradine’s career was forged.
From there Carradine led a very successful acting career, becoming a four time Golden Globe nominee. Though known best for his roles as kung fu masters, Carradine was a multi-talented man, working with such greats as director Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman. He also became famous for portraying such great American icons as Woody Guthrie in the 1976 movie “Bound for Glory.”
Carradine was also not above playing humorous roles. From the self parodies of his famous Kwai Chang role appearing in everything from Lipton Iced Tea commercials to Jonas Brothers’ music videos, to his voice acting in several cartoons, including Nickelodeon’s “Danny Phantom” and “King of the Hill,” Carradine was noted for his sense of humor as well as his action star fame.
In his final years, Carradine never stopped making movies. In fact, he seemed to average almost a dozen a year since the turn of the century. Most famously he appeared as Bill, the ladies man leader of the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad, in the Quentin Tarantino classics “Kill Bill Volumes I and II.” He also appeared as the host of the TV series “Wild West Tech” on the History Channel, a show that went over everything about old west technology from faster six shooters to failed cures for dysentery.
Carradine was a known supporter of small budget films, appearing in many direct to DVD action titles. He was once quoted as saying, “Independent movies are just loaded with an enthusiasm that you usually don’t find in a big feature.” In 2005 he was honored for his list of over 200 roles when he was awarded the Action on Film International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.
The last movie released featuring Carradine was titled “Break,” an assassin thriller in which Carradine appeared along side his long time acting partner and friend Michel Madsen. Madsen, who had appeared with Carradine previously in both “Kill Bill” and “Money to Burn,” was known to be extremely close to Carradine, so much so that Carradine’s marriage to his wife occurred on Madsen’s Malibu estate.
What is lost in the death of David Carradine is not just an icon of the kung fu genre. What is lost is a truly enjoyable man to see in any form of media. He may not have been considered an A-lister by the standard definition, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who in the very least didn’t recognize his face and smile when he came on screen. He was a pioneer of his genre, a man of good humor, and will certainly be missed by all who knew his work.
What a loss. We are currently working on one of his last films…Night Of The Templar.
View the trailer here http://www.madisonentgrp.com/nightofthetemplar.htm
We all feel saddened by his death and until there is concrete evidence that this was in fact an accidental death…we will remain skeptical of his passing.
RIP David, you will be missed.
I was totally shocked when I read about this. The Universe will continue to carry on the ‘lessons’ Mr. Carradine (unknowingly, unintentionally?) passed on to the masses here on Earth. Bless your heart David. You will be sorely missed.
Correction to your story…Keith Carradine hosted “Wild West Tech” for the History Channel not David.
What a tragedy! We will miss you Grasshopper. He took over when Keith left the show. Condolences to the family.
after browsing a few pics, i noticed that the younger David Carradine bore a strong resemblance to the older Patrick Stewart
..sickening to find out all this stuff about people you where devoted fans of..Nice to to know all these celebs are nothing but a bunch of “sick Pigs”…Love the stuff coming out about Kevin Spacey finally…we are tired of being made fools of Hollywood..your box offices draws are proving this..and you thought it was the ecomony..next headline will be about Spacey’s gay stalker catching up to him..would”nt suprise us.. about time the past caught up with some of these sick perverts..and alot of us fans won’nt even care..Carradine’s family is very embarrassed..thying to cover it all up..PLEASE..do they think we’re stupid ???
The anniversary of Carradine’s death is being marked by the appearance of a new book. “David Carradine: The Eye of My Tornado” will look at Carradine’s death.