Thursday, June 04, 2009

OH MY GOD, DAVID CARRADINE DIED?!

Here I was, getting ready to update this blog with my final reviews from Season One, a review of Carradine's autobio, and some other assorted stuff when THIS HAPPENED.

NY Times and AP:

David Carradine, the star of the 1970s television series “Kung Fu” and the title villain of the “Kill Bill” movies, has died in Thailand, The Associated Press reported. The United States Embassy in Bangkok told The A.P. that Mr. Carradine had been found dead in his hotel suite in Bangkok, where he was working on a movie. He was 72.

Mr. Carradine was part of an acting family that included his father, John; his brother, Bruce, and half-brothers Keith and Robert; and his nieces Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton.

After a short run as the title character in the 1966 television adaptation of the Western “Shane,” he found fame in the 1972 series “Kung Fu” as Kwai Chang Caine, a wanderer raised by Shaolin monks to be a martial arts master. He enjoyed a career resurgence in recent years when he was cast by Quentin Tarantino in the action movies “Kill Bill: Vol. 1″ and “Vol. 2.”

Updated | 10:58 a.m. Thai police have told BBC News that Mr. Carradine was found on Thursday morning by a hotel maid in a wardrobe with a rope around his neck.

* * *

What more can I add? The only thing I can say is that the world lost a great actor. I can only speculate as to why he may have taken his life - it may be as a result of his struggles with alcohol. EDIT: Or it may have been accidental. I am shocked at this, frankly, because David's confidence and self-worth seemed so evident. Perhaps we'll learn more in the coming days. Regardless, my prayer is for your rest and hereafter, David. We'll miss you but, in a way, because of what you left behind, we'll always have you. God keep you, Grasshopper.

Shoot, I'm kinda crying right now!

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5 Comments:

Blogger maru-sei said...

Thank you so much for sharing this sad news.

12:31 AM  
Blogger maru-sei said...

Thank you so much for sharing this news.

12:32 AM  
Blogger Capcom said...

I know, this is tragic and awful. We need to keep his family in our prayers.

:-(

6:12 PM  
Blogger About Greg Comfort said...

Is very sad to hear this Charlie. I guess old kung fu guys just don't last forever. Except in our memories and DVD players!

Been a while since I visited. Great to see you're still posting. I recently imported the final series of Kung Fu through Amazon, as it is impossible to get here in NZ except at some extravagant price. We're really enjoying it, and looking forward to the final episodes with potential appearance of Danny Caine.

12:45 AM  
Blogger Charlie Kondek said...

Capcom, I'm glad you're still stopping by. I gotta get back to this and my other blog with more regularity!

Greg, so great to see you again. I hope you're enjoying it - I gotta tell you, I've finished Season One, gotta do those last two episode reviews, and dive into Season Two. Going to be interesting to see how each season changes. So you're way ahead of me, mate!

8:47 AM  

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