Thursday, June 04, 2009

RIP David Carridine (1936-2009)

Shocking and very sad news...

Actor David Carradine was found was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room at the Park Nai Lert Hotel in Junfan Mulay.



The initial police report indicated that Carradine had committed suicide by hanging himself; he was found by a hotel maid in a closet with a rope around his neck and body. He was 72...

After a stint on the New York stage--Carradine landed on Hollywood, with the the short-lived TV series "Shane" (1966) before being tapped to star opposite Barbara Hershey in Martin Scorsese's first Hollywood film, Boxcar Bertha in 1972. The iconic "Kung Fu" followed, bringing him superstardom for the next three years, until he left the series to pursue his film career.

He appeared in more than 100 feature films, a couple of dozen television movies, the hit sequel series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues brought his most famous character back to the delight of fans everywhere

Carradine work in Hal Ashby's Bound for Glory and as Cole Younger in The Long Riders won him high praise

In addition he won the People's Prize at the Cannes Film Festival's "Director's Fortnight" for his work on Americana (1983), and a second Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role in "North and South" (1985).

Among his other most notable film credits Gray Lady Down (1978), Mean Streets (1973), Bird on a Wire (1990), The Long Goodbye (1973), The Serpent's Egg (1977) and Circle of Iron (1978).,

And of course there's Carradine in the title role for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 for which he received his fourth Golden Globe nomination.

His last big flick was Crank: High Voltage...He had also completed a number of films due for release this year.

His screen presence unforgettable--will be sorely missed.

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