David Carradine
David Carradine
08.12.1936 - 03.06.2009 (72 years) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA)
David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor, musician, painter and martial artist. He is noted for his leading role as peace-loving Shaolin monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the television series Kung Fu (1972–1975). He was also known for playing Frankenstein in Death Race 2000 (1975) and Bill in both Kill Bill films (2003–2004). He was a member of the Carradine family of actors that began with his father, John Carradine. His father's acting career, which included major and minor roles on stage and television, and in cinema, spanned over four decades. A prolific "B" movie actor, David Carradine appeared in more than 100 feature films in a career spanning over sixty years. He received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his work on Kung Fu, and received three further Golden Globe nominations for his performances in Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory (1976), the miniseries North and South (1985), and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2, for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. Films that featured Carradine continued to be released after his death. These posthumous credits were from a variety of genres including action, documentaries, drama, horror, martial arts, science fiction, and westerns. In addition to his acting career, Carradine was a director and musician. Moreover, influenced by his Kung Fu role, he studied martial arts. On April 1, 1997, Carradine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was arrested and prosecuted for a variety of offenses, which often involved substance abuse. On June 3, 2009, he was found dead in a closet in his hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand due to a fatal autoerotic asphyxiation accident.