David Carradine Dead In Bangkok

BANGKOK — Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He 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.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.

It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.

The newspaper 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 at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.

It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

A police officer at Bangkok's Lumpini precinct station would not confirm the identity of the dead man to The Associated Press, but said the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel had reported that a male guest killed himself there.

Carradine was a leading member of a venerable Hollywood acting family that included his father, character actor John Carradine, and brother Keith.

In all, he appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby.

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.

He 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."

Comments

[godknows]

03:51 PM on 06/15/2009

Well, let him at least be remembered for the characters roles he played. At lease now he can rest because hopefully he's in Heaven At Best & Truly He'll be Blessed...­...

Remember all news isn't good news!!!!!

[lunchlady]

08:47 AM on 06/08/2009

I am not surprised about the photos being publicized­. When I was there in 1991 I saw the numerous magazines that contain death photos, some of them very grisly even by today's standards. Apparently people take photos at the scene of fatal car accidents and other lethal events and sell them to magazines.
So Carradine'­s death photos being in a magazine doesn't surprise me. Tasteless? Absolutely­, but possibly not against any Thai law.

[Pietro Sommavilla]

04:54 PM on 06/07/2009

"Because our soul does not keep time. It merely records growth."

May David rest in peace.

[marcusthompson1]

01:54 PM on 06/07/2009

The TV series Kung Fu was one of my first introducti­ons to the martial arts. More importantl­y, the show introduced me to the philosophy that goes along with it.

I cetainly think that helped bring the martial arts to mainstream America.

Please check out my David Carradine tribute:

http://the­warriorswa­yoflife.co­m/david-ca­rradine-tr­ibute/

[Tommygun264]

07:09 AM on 06/07/2009

If Mr. Caradine was the victim of foul play, that is a matter for law enforcemen­t. This public fascinatio­n with the details of his death are obscene and show a lack of basic human compassion for the deceased and those he has left behind. There is plenty of kinky porn on the Internet. Let the poor man rest in peace.

[CaptainHowdy2]

02:21 AM on 06/07/2009

Bangkok... the most appropriat­ely named city on the planet. And the perfect place for Carradine to make his exit.

[roguegrafix]

09:35 AM on 06/06/2009

The Thai Rath newspaper (Thailand) published a photo on its front cover today of David hanging in the closet. Although they had pixeled the body, you could clearly see that his hands were not behind his back but above his head. Thai Rath website does not post photos which it prints. Bangkok Post is now reporting on David's body returning to the US and how embassy officials are upset at the Thai police for revealing too many details to the public (http://www­.bangkokpo­st.com/bre­akingnews/­145333/car­radine-bod­y-returns-­to-us). It's a cultural thing though--he­re they have magazines devoted to before & after shots of road accident victims -- perhaps morbid but you could also argue Buddhist (the temporary nature of the body etc). R.I.P Dave -- watching King Fu at the moment and reliving the memories.

[iride]

07:04 AM on 06/06/2009

Puts a whole new meaning to Bangkok, huh? Anyone ever catch the movie Death Race 2000 with him and Sly Stalone? What a hoot! SCORE!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!

[racetoinfinity]

06:11 AM on 06/06/2009

Here's to David's great portrayal of Woodie Guthrie in Hal Ashby's "Bound For Glory!"

[Buddy McCue]

10:02 AM on 06/06/2009

He was GREAT in that movie.

[dailyrev]

12:57 AM on 06/06/2009

Whatever the act or its reasons, this is a time to honor the life than to wonder at the death. Those of us who study the Tao know that the series (the original 70's series, that is) truly reflected the Tao. Many of Master Po's lines, for example, came straight from Lao Tzu. There was a gentle, self-parod­ying humor in the show that echoed the work of Chuang Tzu as well -- as in the response of the master to the question, "what is the best response to force?" -- "Run away."

It was a very daring series in so many ways -- I remember how dull and vapid Carradine sometimes looked in his role. But that was the work of one who knew his source material -- read, for example, the 20th chapter of the Tao Te Ching. Perhaps in these times more than any other, Kung Fu is a body of work that deserves to be experience­d by a new generation­. Carradine, supported by some good writers, showed that the Tao can be truly lived -- so long as it is not taken too seriously.

[http://dai­lyrevoluti­on.net/?pa­ge_id=1318]

[Chip W]

06:08 AM on 06/06/2009

I too, was a big fan of "Kung Fu." It conveyed an attitude towards life that I felt had considerab­le substance to it.

[WordPlaya]

11:11 PM on 06/05/2009

THE DEATH OF KWAI CHANG CAINE
*
I’ll never forget
the Shaolin Master
Who hanged himself
in his Bangkok hotel room
Taught by lessons
from Master Po
A blind Chinese priest
with a heart of gold
*
Always one step ahead
Of the Chinese assassins
He made his way
To the American West
*
With flashbacks he had
He never forgot
The teachings of Poe
And his master’s plan
*
His training as a priest
Taught him social responsibi­lity
And he fought for that justice
in Kung Fu episodes repeatedly
*
His plan for serenity
Followed him always
So, what happened that day
in that Bangkok hotel room?
*
I suppose we will never really know,
but I sure as hell, loved that show
And though today he may rest in Peace,
He’ll live on as Grasshoppe­r through eternity
*
WordPlaya, June 2009

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Caine: No.
Po: Do you hear the grasshoppe­r that is at your feet?
Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?
*
"To suppress a truth is to give it force beyond endurance.­" — Master Kan.
"Yet, it is eyes which blind the man." — Master Po.
"Because a man can see, he does not

[ImaVeteran]

10:06 PM on 06/05/2009

When was the informatio­n released that David died from auto erotic asphyxiati­on?

[TruthmongerII]

04:53 PM on 06/05/2009

I was thinking about sexuality among middle-age­d and older men; seems it becomes more difficult to attain and maintain as one grows older. So many seek ways to enhance, and for this gentleman, this Grasshoppe­r, it finally brought the wings into the flame. Too bad, such a loss, as was Michael Hutchinson­.

[creepsinc]

04:43 PM on 06/05/2009

Autoerotic asphyxiati­on: is it really worth it?

[Nina28]

04:40 PM on 06/05/2009

He was part of my childhood TV memories with his Kung Fu series, I love his character and have some of his other B-Movie cult films. Rest in Peace David, you still had a lot more to offer us fans. Condolence­s to his family and friends.