To simply report that actor David Carradine has died seems hardly able to do the man justice given the body of work with which he has left us. To say that he died in a hotel room in Bangkok might sound like a True Hollywood Story cliche. To say that he hanged himself is inviting the inevitable Michael Hutchence punchline. Alas, those things have all come to pass.
David Carradine, son of John and brother to Keith and Robert, apparently took his own life in the Asian capital today at the age of 72.
In a staggering career that ranged from the 1966 TV series Shane, to the iconic Kung Fu in the 1970s, to Death Race 2000, all the way to Kill Bill, Carradine is a man who seemingly did it all on film, for all the good and bad that that entailed. Undoubtedly, the details will emerge in the days ahead, and the circumstances as to why this noted actor of both the big and small screen went out in this fashion will be speculated upon for months and perhaps even years to come. Obituaries always suck, and never more so than for people whose work you’ve grown up on and watched over the years.
So to Bill, Caine, Frankenstein et al, I’ll just say: Thank you, sir, I enjoyed the time you put in.