112 Facts About David Carradine

The son of busy Hollywood character actor John Carradine, David is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu, playing Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk travelling through the American Old West.

David Carradine portrayed the title character in both of the Kill Bill films.

David Carradine appeared in two Martin Scorsese films: Boxcar Bertha and Mean Streets.

David Carradine received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his work on Kung Fu, and received three additional Golden Globe nominations for his performances in the Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory, the television miniseries North and South, and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2, for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Films that featured David Carradine continued to be released after his death.

David Carradine was a half-brother of Bruce, Keith, Christopher, and Robert Carradine, and an uncle of Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton, most of whom are actors.

David Carradine's parents divorced and repeatedly remarried; he was born to his mother's second marriage of three, and his father's first of four.

John David Carradine had planned to have a large family, but later he discovered his wife had gotten two abortions without his knowledge, and afterward a miscarriage rendered her unable to carry a baby to term.

Against this backdrop of marital discord, David Carradine almost succeeded in committing suicide by hanging at the age of five.

David Carradine said the incident followed his discovery that he and his elder half-brother, Bruce, who had been adopted by John, had different biological fathers.

David Carradine's father left California to avoid court action in the alimony settlement.

On December 25,1947, David Carradine appeared in a live telecast adaptation of A Christmas Carol, with his father in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

David Carradine often accompanied his father to summer theater throughout the Northeast.

David Carradine spent time in Massachusetts, and a winter milking cows on a farm in Vermont.

David Carradine attended Oakland Junior College for a year before transferring to San Francisco State College, where he studied drama and music theory, and wrote music for the drama department's annual revues while juggling menial jobs, a fledgling stage acting career, and his studies.

David Carradine met fellow inductee Larry Cohen, who later cast him in Q, The Winged Serpent.

David Carradine was honorably discharged after two years of active duty.

David Carradine was advised to change his name to avoid confusion with his famous father.

In 1964 David Carradine appeared as "The Utah Kid" on The Virginian in the episode "The Intruders".

In May 1964, David Carradine joined the cast of the Broadway play The Deputy by Rolf Hochhuth, replacing Jeremy Brett.

David Carradine spent a lot of time playing, in his words, "greenhorns in Westerns and villains in thrillers".

David Carradine guest-starred in The Trials of O'Brien in episodes that were cut together and released theatrically as Too Many Thieves, and Coronet Blue.

David Carradine was named as one of Theatre World's Promising Personalities from Broadway and Off Broadway.

David Carradine left the production of Royal Hunt of the Sun in May 1966 to take up an offer to star in the TV series Shane, a 1966 western based upon a 1949 novel of the same name, previously filmed in 1953.

David Carradine said his career was "rescued" when he was cast in Johnny Belinda.

David Carradine was in demand as a supporting actor, mostly in Westerns: The Violent Ones, Heaven with a Gun, Young Billy Young for Burt Kennedy, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys with Kennedy, The McMasters, and Macho Callahan.

David Carradine was unhappy playing villains, and told his agent he wanted to stop, which led to his not working in Hollywood for a year.

David Carradine was cast in a musical, The Ballad of Johnny Pot, but fired two days before opening night on Broadway.

David Carradine made his feature directorial debut with the film You and Me, starring alongside Hershey and his brothers Keith and Robert.

David Carradine's character brought the term "grasshopper" into popular culture.

Also, the bad publicity that the 1974 peyote-related incident attracted on him affected the ratings in a way that Radames Pera described as sabotage, and that David Carradine himself acknowledged had been detrimental to them.

David Carradine directed several episodes of Kung Fu, a short musical called A Country Mile, and a film, Around.

David Carradine was tapped to play Duke Leto Atreides in Alejandro Jodorowsky's aborted Dune adaptation in the late 1970s.

David Carradine worked very closely with his friend, singer-songwriter-guitarist Guthrie Thomas, on the film.

David Carradine made a third car chase film for Corman, Thunder and Lightning, in 1977.

David Carradine replaced Richard Harris, who was too ill to do it.

Back in Hollywood, David Carradine co-starred with Charlton Heston in Gray Lady Down and did another film for Corman, Deathsport, an unofficial sequel to Death Race 2000.

The script became Circle of Iron, and in the film, David Carradine played the four roles originally intended for Lee.

David Carradine made Mr Horn for TV, playing Tom Horn based on a script by William Goldman.

The movie, which was about the Jesse James gang, gave David Carradine, who played Cole Younger, one of his most memorable roles.

David Carradine played a pilot in Cloud Dancer and was the villain in High Noon, Part II: The Return of Will Kane.

David Carradine did a car chase film in Africa, Safari 3000.

David Carradine returned to the director's chair with Americana, which he starred in, produced and edited.

David Carradine directed the unreleased Mata Hari, an epic that starred his daughter, Calista.

David Carradine made a cameo in Trick or Treats and was the villain in Lone Wolf McQuade with Chuck Norris.

David Carradine returned to guest-starring on regular TV series like The Fall Guy, Airwolf, Fox Mystery Theater and Partners in Crime.

David Carradine starred in TV movies like Jealousy and The Bad Seed, and was still in demand as the star of cheaper action films such as The Warrior and the Sorceress and On the Line.

David Carradine attracted notice in 1985 when he appeared in a major supporting role in North and South, a miniseries about the American Civil War, as the evil and abusive Justin LaMotte.

David Carradine was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

David Carradine reprised his role as Caine in Kung Fu: The Movie for TV, which he produced.

David Carradine starred in the low-budget action film Behind Enemy Lines and reprised his role as LaMotte in North and South, Book II, telecast in May 1986.

David Carradine continued to be in demand for action films, either aimed at the video market or for TV: Oceans of Fire, Armed Response for Fred Olen Ray, The Misfit Brigade, and Six Against the Rock as Bernie Coy.

David Carradine guest starred on Amazing Stories and Night Heat and he was in I Saw What You Did, Run for Your Life, Warlords, Tropical Snow, and The Cover Girl and the Cop.

David Carradine received some good reviews for Sonny Boy, on which he sang on the soundtrack.

David Carradine starred in three films for Corman: Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, directed by Charles B Griffith; Nowhere to Run, directed by Carl Franklin; and Crime Zone directed by Luis Llosa; Carradine co produced the latter.

David Carradine was in Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, directed by Anthony Hickox; Try This One for Size, Open Fire, and Future Force, which he helped produce.

David Carradine followed it with Night Children, Crime of Crimes, Animal Protector, Dune Warriors, Martial Law and The Trace of Lynx.

David Carradine made his first studio film in a long time with Bird on a Wire and he guest starred on shows like Matlock, The Young Riders, and The Ray Bradbury Theatre.

David Carradine had support roles in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw and could be seen in Capital Punishment and Karate Cop.

David Carradine was in Battle Gear and Evil Toons for Ray, and had support parts in Double Trouble, Roadside Prophets, Night Rhythms, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, and Distant Justice.

David Carradine returned to the part of Caine in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, which led to a new TV series that ran from 1993 to 1997, and consisted of 88 episodes.

David Carradine starred in Kill Zone, Dead Center for Steve Carver, Code.

David Carradine was featured in a Lipton Tea commercial, which first aired during the broadcast of Super Bowl XXVIII.

In 1997, David Carradine was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

David Carradine starred in Natural Selection, Full Blast, Zoo, The Puzzle in the Air, Dangerous Curves, Down 'n Dirty, Nightfall, and By Dawn's Early Light.

David Carradine guest-starred in The Nightmare Room, Jackie Chan Adventures, Titus, and King of the Hill.

David Carradine made a guest appearance in episode 11 of Lizzie McGuire as himself, which gave him an opportunity to work with his brother Robert, who played Lizzie's father in the series.

David Carradine enjoyed a revival of his fame when he was cast in Quentin Tarantino's sequential Kill Bill movies, Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Kill Bill: Volume 2.

David Carradine took over hosting duties from his brother Keith on Wild West Tech on the History Channel, in 2005.

David Carradine appeared as Clockwork, the ghost of time, in two episodes of the animated series, Danny Phantom.

David Carradine had a cameo in Epic Movie and was in Treasure Raiders, How to Rob a Bank, Fall Down Dead, Permanent Vacation, and Fuego.

David Carradine played Buckingham in a version of Richard III which he helped produce, and was in a studio film when he supported Rob Schneider in Big Stan.

David Carradine made one last film for Corman, Dinocroc vs Supergator directed by Jim Wynorski.

David Carradine was in Six Days in Paradise with Madsen; Money to Burn ; Stretch ; Highway to Hell ; and The Banksters, Madoff with America.

David Carradine appeared in a minor role in Yuen Woo-ping's Chinese kung fu epic True Legend; they had first met while filming Kill Bill.

David Carradine is among the first Hollywood actors to perform Chinese martial arts on the big screen.

David Carradine appeared in the music video of the song Devil by Ours, with images originally shot four years before for the unreleased short film 8 For Infinity, directed by Michael Maxxis.

David Carradine's final released movie was the cult independent film, Night of the Templar, directed by his friend Paul Sampson, in which Carradine wielded a sword for the final time on screen.

Almost like a foreshadowing, there are several peculiar and eerie references in the film that coincidentally relate to the circumstances of David Carradine's untimely passing, which include auto-erotic asphyxiation.

David Carradine co-produced a full-length documentary about luthier Stuart Mossman, which has been identified as the actor's last film appearance.

On October 3,2009, Celebrity Ghost Stories premiered on the Biography Channel with an interview of David Carradine discussing his belief that his closet was haunted by his wife's deceased previous husband.

David Carradine knew nothing of the practice of kung fu at the time he was cast in the role of Kwai Chang Caine; instead, he relied on his experience as a dancer for the part.

David Carradine had experience in sword fighting, boxing, and street fighting on which to draw.

David Carradine never considered himself a master of the art, but rather an "evangelist" of kung fu.

In 2005, David Carradine visited the Shaolin Monastery in Henan, China, as part of the extra features for the third season of the Kung Fu DVDs.

David Carradine sang and played the piano, the guitar, and the flute, among other instruments.

David Carradine recorded an album titled Grasshopper, which was released in 1975.

David Carradine performed several of Woody Guthrie's songs for the movie, Bound for Glory.

David Carradine later made several flutes for the movie Circle of Iron, one of which he later played in Kill Bill.

David Carradine wrote and performed the theme songs for at least two movies that he starred in, Americana and Sonny Boy.

David Carradine wrote and performed several songs for American Reel and wrote the score for You and Me.

David Carradine lived with him off-base when he was stationed at Fort Eustis in Virginia.

The marriage dissolved in 1968, whereupon David Carradine left New York and headed back to California to continue his television and film careers.

In 1968, David Carradine met actress Barbara Hershey while the two of them were working on Heaven with a Gun.

David Carradine was engaged to Hubley for a time, but they never married.

In February 1977, David Carradine married his second wife Linda in a civil ceremony in Munich, Germany, after filming The Serpent's Egg.

David Carradine was married to Gail Jensen from 1986 to 1997 and to Marina Anderson from 1998 to 2001.

On December 26,2004, David Carradine married the widowed Annie Bierman at the seaside Malibu home of his friend Michael Madsen.

In one of his final interviews, David Carradine stated that at 71, he was still "in excellent shape", attributing it to a good diet and having a youthful circle of friends.

David Carradine pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace.

In 1974, at the height of his popularity in Kung Fu, David Carradine was arrested again, this time for attempted burglary and malicious mischief.

David Carradine broke into a neighbor's home, smashing a window and cutting his arm, and accosted two young women, allegedly assaulting one while asking her if she was a witch.

David Carradine pleaded no contest to the mischief charge and was given probation.

David Carradine was never charged with assault, but the young woman sued him for $1.1 million and was awarded $20,000.

In 1980, while in South Africa filming Safari 3000, which co-starred Stockard Channing, David Carradine was arrested for possession of marijuana.

David Carradine claimed that he had been framed by the apartheid government, as he had been seen dancing with Tina Turner.

In 1994, in Toronto, filming Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, David Carradine was arrested for kicking in a door at the SkyDome while attending a Rolling Stones concert.

David Carradine later claimed that he was trying to avoid being swarmed by fans.

David Carradine arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on May 31,2009, to shoot his latest film, titled Stretch.

David Carradine called the assistant an hour later but was told the group was across town and he would have to make his own arrangements that evening.

Somprasong Yenthuam, Superintendent of the nearby Lumphini Police Station, said that David Carradine was found naked and had hanged himself in the room's closet with a curtain cord.

David Carradine was neither nominated nor won a Tony Award for The Royal Hunt of the Sun.