David Carradine's Death May Be Accidental

Suicide not completely ruled out, but not likely the cause

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

As reported Thursday, film and television actor David Carradine's lifeless body had been discovered in his luxury hotel room closet in Bangkok, Thailand, but police officials have now focused their attention on an accidental death rather than a suicide, which is what evidence had initially pointed to.

Reporters and bloggers alike are speculating that the legendary Kung Fu actor, who was 72 at the time of his death, may have been engaged in auto-erotic asphyxiation, an extremely dangerous form of sexual experience that involves temporarily cutting off one's oxygen supply to the brain in order to heighten sexual climax.

"When I arrived, I saw the dead body with a string of rope tied around his neck, also tied around his wrist," stated Police Colonel Somprasong Yenthuam, the Lumpini Police Superintendent. The officials also claimed that another rope had been tied around Carradine's genitals.

"The two ropes were tied together," said Lt. General Worapong Chewprecha. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not or he died of suffocation or heart failure." Either way, there was no evidence of another person being in Carradine's room of the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel at the time of his death.

Hollywood was abuzz with the actor's untimely death, as friends of the late actor immediately denounced the possibilty of suicide, including Quentin Tarantino, who directed Carradine in the Kill Bill films (2003-04) that introduced the aging star to a whole new generation.

"All we can say is, we know David would never have committed suicide," insisted Tiffany Smith of the actor's management company Binder & Associates. "We're just waiting for them to finish the investigation and find out what really happened. He really appreciated everything life has to give...and that's not something David would ever do to himself."

Carradine had flown to Thailand only last week to begin filming a French movie titled Stretch, which is one of several upcoming projects he had been signed to appear in. He had just three days left of filming. "David was apparently very happy about this new role and about filming again," claimed the film's spokesperson Monica Donati.

A chambermaid discovered Carradine's nude body in the hotel room, but no suicide note had been found. Carradine, best-known for his role in TV's Kung Fu series, had appeared in well-over 100 movies over the last 45 years. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

RIP: David Carradine (1936-2009)

Kung Fu, Kill Bill actor apparently took own life in Thailand

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Although unconfirmed, television, theatre and film legend David Carradine, 72, has committed suicide, found hanging in his luxury hotel room in central Bangkok, Thailand. Michael Turner, a spokeman for the U.S. embassy in Thailand, said the actor died either late Wednesday night or in the early morning of Thurday (June 3), though further details have not yet been provided.

The prolific thespian has appeared in more than 100 feature films over his lengthy career, but will be best remembered as Kwai Chang Caine in the '70s TV series Kung Fu (1972-75), as well as its popular spin-off series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993-97) and a 1986 TV movie (Kung Fu: The Movie). He was also an expert in Tai chi and Qi Gong martial arts training.

Carradine, who recently returned to the spotlight in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies (2003 & 2004), is part of Hollywood royalty that includes his actor father John Carradine (The Hurricane), brother Bruce Carradine (Kung Fu), half-brothers Keith Carradine (Nashville) & Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds), and neices Ever Carradine (Bubble Boy) and Martha Plimpton (The Goonies).

Also a Broadway performer, the Golden Globe-nominated actor (born John Arthur Carradine in Hollywood, California) studied drama at San Francisco State College and landed smaller roles before he changed his given name to David, to avoid confusion with his own father. In 1965 he won a Theatre World Award as Best Debut Performance for his role in Broadway's The Royal Hunt of the Sun.

In addition to the Kill Bill features, Carradine's filmography also includes Taggart (1964) (his first), The Violent Ones (1967), Boxcar Bertha (1972), Death Race 2000 (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), Q (1982), Bird on a Wire (1990), Epic Movie (2007), and his latest appearance, Crank: High Voltage (2009). He's also been featured in numerous other TV shows, including The Virginian (1964), Gunsmoke (1971), Airwolf (1984), Matlock (1987), Charmed (1999), Alias (2005) and Mental (2009).

Carradine, who had married five times, leaves behind daughters Calista and Kansas, son Tom, and widow Annie, whom he married on Boxing Day 2004. According to a police statement a maid of the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel discovered Carradine hanging from a cord wrapped around his neck and body. He was in Thailand for the filming of a movie titled Stretch.