Legacy: David Carradine and ‘Kung Fu’
by S.T. KarnickProlific actor David Carradine, best known for the Kung Fu TV series, the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, and a series of ads for telephone directories, has been found dead in the closet of his hotel room in Thailand, where he was about to begin participation in a new film.
Preliminary reports have the death as a suicide by hanging.
The circumstances of his death, however, should not be allowed to overshadow his accomplishments as an actor.
As the son of actor John Carradine, David Carradine both benefited from his Hollywood family connection and rebelled against the industry that employed him. He appeared in a few very good movies, such as Bound for Glory and The Long Riders, and many, many very poor ones. He played a wide variety of roles, with numerous appearances as villains, some of which were quite memorable, even in some very bad films.
What he’ll be most remembered for, however, is probably the TV series Kung Fu. The show ran from 1972 through 1975, and it reflected a big change in American attitudes. Set in the Old West, Kung Fu featured Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk, a serene and peaceful practitioner of Eastern religion and Chinese martial arts transplanted to the United States. Kung Fu included only a couple of minutes of physical action scenes per episode, concentrating most of the time on interesting angles on personal relationships.
In that regard, however, the show was actually quite traditional. Many excellent Western TV series tended to concentrate on personal stories instead of mere action, notably classics such as Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and Have Gun, Will Travel. What Carradine and the show’s writers brought to the genre was a post-Vietnam attitude of weariness toward conflict, a yearning for peace that manifested in an oddly Christian way: a simple refusal to seek revenge for wrongs done to oneself.
In this regard, Kung Fu had the blend of traditional elements and innovation that makes for good entertainment and sometimes real art. The show was serious in its presentation of Caine’s ideas and their source in Eastern thinking, including frequent flashback scenes depicting his childhood years in a Shaolin monastery in which he learned the lessons he applies in the main story lines.
Like any conventional Western hero, Caine seeks peace for himself and others, but he always must ultimately employ violence in pursuit of that elusive goal. In that way, Kung Fu still has resonance today, for the attempt to bring peace to a violent world perpetually requires the use of force, as is evident both in national defense issues and society responses to crime. Carradine’s work in Kung Fu remains a valuable contribution to that eternal debate over when and how the use of force is justified.
–S. T. Karnick, editor of The American Culture
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42 Comments
So sad…. whenever anybody is feeling so much anguish (Mental, Physical, or otherwise), and can see no way to stop the pain – - other than taking their own life.
Rest In Peace, Grasshopper.
This is such sad news! He is in my prayers, as are his family and friends.
Kung Fu was one of my all time favorite shows too. We'll miss him terribly.
Ummmm…read a little deeper into the available "preliminary reports" before you characterize this as a suicide.
I don't mean any disrespect, but this website should stand for the truth however unpleasant the truth may sometimes be.
Sad. Two of my favorite TV series from junior high and high school days were Then Came Bronson and Kung Fu. In fact, I remember how just impossibly cool I thought it was that both Michael Parks and David Carradine were in the Kill Bill movies (With Parks doing a virtuoso performance in dual roles!).
Both of those old TV shows had a philosophical bent that appealed to me, and I wasn't surprised to find that Quentin Tarrantino was also a fan of those series when he was young.
Of course, those of us boomers who were in junior high and high school in the 70's also remember Carradine from the TV series Shane, which had a similar philosophical slant to Bronson and Kung Fu. Heroes never want to fight, but when they have to, they are deadly good at it.
RIP and Godspeed, David, and thanks for the memories.
He was found naked and hanging in the closet. It sounds like auto-erotic asphyxiation. He's going to be like Bob Crane. His work will be overshadowed by how he died.
The truth is that Carradine admitted that for a stretch of his life he took out a gun every night and contemplated shooting himself. While, yes, we need to wait for the final report, I think this pattern was clear. Just as people laughed and called Phil Spector eccentric for threatening people with a gun all the time and thought Kurt Cobain was artsy for his depressed music before he killed himself if anyone you know is engaged in some destructive behavior, it'll usually catch up with them. Rest in peace Mr. Carradine.
I was so bummed when I heard about this. I've been a fan since the original "Kung Fu" television series and loved "Kill Bill." He will be missed.
Which, when one thinks about it, really is a shame.
Well, this wasn't done with a gun in hand. At least, not that kind of gun.
Sorry, but I can't take this as seriously as some of you. Read the actual reports.
"…In that way, Kung Fu still has resonance today, for the attempt to bring peace to a violent world perpetually requires the use of force, as is evident both in national defense issues and society responses to crime."
Fine choice of words, Esty. If that doesn't sum up the rule of law for me, nothing does. And nobody did it like David Carradine's Kwai Chang Caine. Violent, but not a vigilante. You knew where the violence was coming from, and knew also in that very moment you would have done the same. Peace Through Superior Kung Fu Power. Remember, It was the gun that settled the West, mon freres.
BTW did you know Carradine modeled Caine after Mister Spock? This…is…not…logical. From a video interview. No BS. RIP, Grasshopper. PS No tabloid crap here today, like that auto-erotic asphyxiation wisecrack. We're in mourning. And you don't know. Shut up! Have you no respect for the dead?
Kung Fu and Alias Smith and Jones were two great 70s Western series. When Caine whipped-out that robe with the hand on it — you knew some serious ass-kicking was coming right up!
I know the final autopsy has not been done and we're still in the preliminary stages of investigation. But I confess that my instant thought (no suicide note, subject non-suicidal before death, found naked with rope around 'other parts of body', etc.) was that this was a case of autoerotic asphyxiation gone awry. I hope that this is not the case.
Truly a bummer, Kung Fu was the $hit back in the day, and he played Bill perfectly in the, “Kill Bill” series, to bad. It matters not to me how he died, he wasn’t a personal hero, I didn’t hold him up as a paradigm of morality, but he’s a part of my life none the less through the idiot box, and the big screen, “RIP Grasshopper!” May your family find peace.
That's not necessarily true. Many people commit suicide while unclothed and the reasons are varied. See here:
http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/36/2/240#SE...
As far as auto-erotic asphyxiation, he didn't fit the profile. From the same link:
"It is usually practiced by white, middle-class men younger than 30 who do not have a history of mental illness."
R.I.P.
If it was auto-erotic asphyxiation, that's pretty good for a 73 year old. I hope I'm able to "engage" at 73.
Wasn't that how the show began? "When your rocks pop, it will be time for you to leave."
David Carradine was sooo charismatic.
Had some great moments in The Long Riders.
Loved him in the Kung Fu TV show.
He was marvelous in Kill Bill (which overall I thought was repellant trash).
I had hoped his role in Kill Bill would lead to him getting roles in better films.
What a shame, losing him like this now.
If (as reported) he has been sober in recent years, it's ironic as hell for him to die now,
like when Warren Zevon and Sam Kinison each finally got cleaned up and then got killed.
David Carradine was sooo charismatic.
Had some great moments in The Long Riders.
Loved him in the Kung Fu TV show.
He was marvelous in Kill Bill (which overall I thought was repellant trash).
I had hoped his role in Kill Bill would lead to him getting roles in better films.
What a shame, losing him like this now.
If (as reported) he has been sober in recent years, it's ironic as hell for him to die now,
like when Warren Zevon and Sam Kinison each finally got cleaned up and then got killed.
Never saw "Kung Fu," but he was great in "Bound for Glory." (I was gonna mention "Nashville," but then I remembered it was brother in that one.)
Saw "The Long Riders" when it was released. Good flick. I know the Keaches played the James brothers, but I can't remember if the Carradines were the Coles or the Youngers.
Anyway, RIP.
BTW, let's not forget to say one for Koko Taylor also. They're pitching a wang-dang-doodle upstairs tonight.
I agree. The manner of his death is irrelevant. I'll remember him for the characters he played.
Kwai Chang Caine, Master,
has caught the grasshopper that
taunted him so long.
Time will tell or not.
In the interim, lets have a moment of silence and respect for a very interesting guy.
Thank you David.
Maybe, maybe not.
He died in Thailand. It could be anything.
RIP David. I will miss you.
David Carradine played Cole Younger in The Long Riders.
Thanks — I had that screwed up.
There were the Jameses (Keaches), the Youngers (Carradines), and another set of brothers (played by brother actors — the Quaids?).
I'm better on my Mafia trivia than my Old West trivia.
Was shocked to hear the sad news today.
Kung Fu was one of my favorite shows to watch
and loved him in Kill Bill.
He was such a interesting person and will be missed.
RIP David
Come on people why should it matter how he died, and who are we to judge, when moral standards everywhere are going down hill. The commercials are the worst, how about a man getting the hair peeled off of his body parts for the "what would u do for a Klondike bar" this is just icecream folks. or the sci-fi short where this magician is blowing into a real dog's anus, the dog swells up and bursts. And u are judging what David was doing in the privacy of his own room? I don't care how he died, he's dead, and I will miss him, Thanks for the entertainment David.
That's absolutely what I suspect this was. Keep in mind where he was. Thailand is the go-to place for sexual hijinx in the Far East, or at least it was when I was stationed overseas. I wouldn't discount the possibility that it wasn't auto-erotic at all, but that he had company which then fled.
So is serial killing. Nevertheless, Aileen Wuornos was the real deal.
No one's definitively claiming that it was autoerotic asphyxiation. That would be stupid, since no one can know for sure. But given the circumstances and the locale, that's certainly a reasonable conjecture.
[...] UPDATE: Excellent article about David Carradine: S.T. Karnick, Big Hollywood: Legacy: David Carradine and ‘Kung Fu’ [...]
And two of the Guest brothers played Bob and Charlie Ford
You were right, looks like an accidental death.
Still a damn shame, I loved Kung Fu and he was a great bad guy in Lone Wolf McQuade. He did a show on either History Channel or Discovery called Wild West Tech. Just seemd like a great guy.
RIP
Dennis and Randy Quaid played Ed and Clell Miller.
Well, the NY Post certainly bears you out. Today it revealed that his hands were tied behind his back – so you're right that there had to have been someone else in the room. (England's 'Daily Mail' also says the same thing.) Sheesh.
Thanks again (and thanks, Paul).
He was a friend since I met him in Key West 20 years ago, the first time I saw him he smiled at me and talked.
This really is a painful time for me because I knew how kind he really was.
R.I.P. Master
This morning, in Facebook, I saw a friend of mine commenting about the death of David Carradine and a friend of his just commented that Carradine was a world class a-hole and that he once pissed off Chuck Norris on the set of "Lone Wolf McQuade" to the point that Chuck had an altercation with Carradine. I don't know the whole story but it surprised me between Norris and Carradine.
Okay, you got me Old Tom. No one has the auto erotic asphyxiation radar that you do. Sad nonetheless.
I wasn't actually "judging" the man. I simply asked that the contributors to this website write the truth.
Carradine's legacy will also live on in the new book "David Carradine: The Eye of My Tornado". I hope people read it and remember him as a good man…not just the victim of accidental suicide.
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
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