David Carradine, also known as John Arthur Carradine Jr., was an American actor best known for his roles in martial arts films. He was born on December 8, 1936. He is most remembered for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk trekking through the American Old West, in the 1970s television series Kung Fu. In both Kill Bill films, he also played the title character. Boxcar Bertha and Mean Streets, both directed by Martin Scorsese, featured him.
David came from a long line of actors, beginning with his father, John Carradine. The elder Carradine’s playing career spanned more than four decades and includes important and minor appearances on stage, screen, and television. David Carradine was a prolific “B” movie actor who acted in over 100 feature films throughout his six-decade career.
For his work on Kung Fu, he received Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations, as well as three more Golden Globe nominations for his roles in the Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory (1976), the television miniseries North and South (1985), and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Volume 2, for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Carradine was also a filmmaker and musician in addition to his acting career. He also practiced martial arts, influenced by his Kung Fu part. Carradine was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 1, 1997.
Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissôtel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit Road, in central Bangkok, Thailand, on June 3, 2009, at the age of 72. ‘Accidental asphyxiation’ was commonly regarded as the cause of death.
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