text: david carradine david carradine ( born john arthur carradine ; december 8 , 1936 – june 3 , 2009 ) was an american actor and martial artist , best known for his leading role as a peace - loving shaolin monk , kwai chang caine , in the 1970s television series kung fu . he was a member of a productive acting family that began with his father , john carradine . carradine 's acting career , which included major and minor roles on stage and television , and in cinema , spanned over four decades . a prolific " b " movie actor , he appeared in more than 100 feature films and was nominated four times for a golden globe award . the last nomination was for his title role in quentin tarantino 's kill bill : volume 2 ( 2004 ) . films that featured carradine continued to be released after his death . these posthumous credits were from a variety of genres including action , documentaries , drama , horror , martial arts , science fiction , and westerns . in addition to his acting career , carradine was a director and musician . moreover , influenced by his most popular acting role , he studied martial arts . he had been frequently arrested and prosecuted for a variety of offenses , which often involved substance abuse . he died on june 3 , 2009 , from asphyxiation , in a hotel room in bangkok , thailand ; the main report states it was an auto - erotic asphyxiation ; though some have said he may have been murdered . early life carradine was born on december 8 , 1936 as john arthur carradine , in hollywood , california , the oldest child of actor john carradine and his wife ( mccool ) . he was a half - brother of bruce , keith , christopher , and robert carradine , and an uncle of ever carradine and martha plimpton . primarily of irish descent , he was a great - grandson of methodist evangelical author beverly carradine and a grandnephew of artist will foster . called jack by his family , carradine 's childhood was turbulent . for example , his parents divorced and repeatedly remarried ; he was born to his mother 's second marriage of three , and his father 's first of four . at the time of carradine 's parents ' marriage , his mother already had a son by her first husband , whom john adopted . john carradine planned a large family , but after his wife had a series of miscarriages , he discovered she had had numerous illegal abortions without his knowledge . this rendered her unable to carry a baby to full term . against this backdrop of marital discord , jack almost succeeded in committing suicide by hanging at the age of five . he said the incident followed his discovery that he and his older half - brother bruce , who had been adopted by john , had different biological fathers . carradine added , " my father saved me , and then confiscated my comic book collection and burned it – which was scarcely the point " . after three years of marriage , filed for divorce from john , but the couple remained married for another five years . divorce finally came in 1944 , when jack was seven years old . his father left california to avoid court action in the alimony settlement . after the couple engaged in a series of court battles over child custody and alimony , which at one point landed john in jail , jack joined his father in new york city . by this time , his father had remarried . for the next few years jack was shuffled between boarding schools , foster homes , and reform school . he also would often accompany his father while the elder carradine performed summer theater throughout the northeast . the boy spent time in massachusetts and even one miserable winter milking cows on a farm in vermont . eventually , jack carradine returned to california , where he graduated from oakland high school . he attended oakland junior college ( currently laney college ) for a year before transferring to san francisco state college , where he studied drama and music theory , and wrote music for the drama department 's annual revues while juggling work at menial jobs , a fledgling stage acting career , and his studies . after he dropped out of college , carradine spent some time with the " beatniks " of san francisco 's north beach and southern california 's venice . during this time he collected unemployment insurance and sold baby pictures . he was also prosecuted for disturbing the peace . despite an attempt to dodge the draft , in 1960 carradine was inducted into the united states army , where he drew pictures for training aids . that christmas he married his high school sweetheart , donna lee becht . while stationed at fort eustis , virginia he helped to establish a theater company which became known as the " entertainment unit " . he met fellow inductee , larry cohen , who later cast him in q , the winged serpent . he also faced court - martial for shoplifting . in 1962 , donna gave birth to their daughter , calista . carradine was honorably discharged after a two - year tour . film and television career early successes upon leaving the army , carradine became serious about his acting pursuits . it was at that time that he was advised to change his name to avoid confusion with his famous father . in 1963 , he made his television debut on an episode of armstrong circle theatre . several other television roles were to follow including appearances on bob hope presents the chrysler theatre , and the alfred hitchcock hour . he made his feature film debut in 1964 in taggart , a western based on a novel by louis l 'amour . his first " big break " , however , came with his second broadway part in the royal hunt of the sun , a play by peter shaffer about the destruction of the inca empire by conquistador francisco pizarro . he said of this performance , " many of the important roles that i got later on were because the guy who was going to hire me was in that audience and had his mind blown . " for that part , carradine won a theatre world award for best debut performance in 1965 . with the closing of the royal hunt of the sun , and the failing of his marriage , carradine left new york and headed back to california . he returned to tv to star in the short - lived series shane , a 1966 western based upon a 1949 novel of the same name and previously filmed in 1953 . carradine guest - starred opposite david mccallum in a 1971 episode of night gallery entitled " the phantom farmhouse . " in 1972 , he co - starred as ' big ' bill shelly in one of martin scorsese 's earliest films , boxcar bertha , which starred barbara hershey , his domestic partner at the time ( see personal life ) . this was one of several roger corman productions in which he was to appear . it was also one of a handful of acting collaborations he made with his father , john . kung fu for three seasons , david carradine starred as a half - chinese , half - white shaolin monk , kwai chang caine , on the abc hit tv series kung fu ( 1972 – 1975 ) and was nominated for an emmy and a golden globe award for the role . the show , which took place in the old west , helped to popularize the martial arts and eastern philosophy in the west , and immortalized the character of kwai chang caine , also referred to as " grasshopper " , in popular culture . although the choice of a white man to play the role of kwai chang caine stirred controversy , the show served as steady employment for several asian - american actors in the u.s. in addition to keye luke and philip ahn , who held leading roles in the cast as caine 's shaolin masters , robert ito , james hong , benson fong , richard loo , and victor sen yung frequently appeared in the series . kung fu ended when carradine quit to pursue a movie career , but he reprised the role of kwai chang caine in 1986 in kung fu : the movie . brandon lee , son of bruce lee , in his acting debut , portrayed his son . in 1991 , he reprised the role of caine in a cameo appearance in the tv movie the gambler returns : the luck of the draw , in which caine uses his chinese friends to help the title character in 1903 san francisco . early in the 1990s , carradine once again reprised the role of kwai chang caine in kung fu : the legend continues ( 1993 – 97 ) playing the grandson of the original character of the same name . carradine starred in the program and served as executive producer and director . the program offered him the opportunity to recreate the character for which he was most widely recognized . the show was canceled in 1997 , after four seasons and 88 episodes . movie career immediately following the kung fu series , carradine accepted the role as the race car driver frankenstein in death race 2000 ( 1975 ) , he said , to " kill the image of caine and launch a movie career " . the roger corman exploitation film became a cult classic . it was based on ib melchior 's first science fiction work , a short story called the racer . in 1976 , carradine earned critical praise for his portrayal of folksinger woody guthrie in hal ashby 's bound for glory ( 1976 ) for which he won a national board of review award for best actor . he was also nominated for a golden globe award and new york film critics circle award for his role as guthrie . carradine worked very closely with his friend , singer - songwriter - guitarist guthrie thomas , on the bound for glory film . thomas assisted carradine in the guitar style of the period and the songs that had been chosen to be in the film itself . next came the role of the alcoholic , unemployed trapeze artist , abel rosenberg in the serpent 's egg ( 1977 ) . set in post - world war i berlin , the serpent 's egg , which also starred liv ullmann , is together with the touch one of the two only english - language films made by legendary swedish director ingmar bergman . bergman said of his leading man , " i don 't believe in god , but heaven must have sent him . " carradine said that he and bergman had plans for further collaboration , but the director 's affection for the actor waned when the latter passionately protested a scene which included the butchering of a horse . the altercation caused carradine to question the fate of bergman 's soul while the director declared , " little brother , i am an old whore . i have shot two other horses , burned one and strangled a dog . " in 2000 he had a small part in the movie " by dawn 's early light " . when bruce lee died in 1973 , he left an unreleased movie script that he had developed with james coburn and stirling silliphant called the silent flute . the script became circle of iron ( 1978 ) , and in the film , carradine played the four roles that were originally intended for lee . carradine considered this to be among his best work . in 1980 carradine appeared in the long riders ( 1980 ) , with his half - brothers keith and robert carradine . the ensemble cast included three other brother / actor groupings : stacy and james keach ; dennis and randy quaid , and christopher and nicholas guest . the movie , which was about the jesse james gang , gave carradine , who played cole younger , one of his most memorable roles . throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s , david carradine 's acting career suffered a decline . although he continued to amass movie and television credits , few of his roles garnered much attention . most of his work was released straight to video . however , a few of his movies , such as the warrior and the sorceress ( 1984 ) , sundown : the vampire in retreat ( 1990 ) and sonny boy ( 1989 ) , developed cult followings . in 1989 , he starred in the low budget direct - to - video swedish action movie the mad bunch directed by mats helge olsson , making him one of three actors ( including heinz hopf and tor ) who have starred in both an ingmar bergman movie and an olsson movie . in 1997 , carradine was awarded a star on the hollywood walk of fame . the presenters played an " april fool 's day " prank on him by first unveiling a star bearing the name of his brother , robert . carradine enjoyed a revival of his fame when he was cast in quentin tarantino 's sequential kill bill movies , in 2003 and 2004 . among those who thought his portrayal of bill , the assassin extraordinaire , would earn him an academy award nomination was scott mantz , of the , who said , " carradine practically steals every scene he 's in with confident gusto , and he gives a soulful performance that should all but ensure a spot on next year 's oscar ballot . " roger ebert and richard roeper each had kill bill vol . 2 on their top ten list for of academy awards predictions . although the films received no notice from the academy , carradine did receive a golden globe nomination and a saturn award , for best supporting actor for his portrayal of bill . carradine also appeared as a mysterious martial artist , the master , in the 2009 dvd premier big stan . television appearances carradine attracted notice in 1985 when he appeared in a major supporting role in north and south , a miniseries about the american civil war , as the evil and abusive justin . he was nominated for a golden globe for best supporting actor for his performance . he also appeared in north and south , book ii , telecast in may 1986 . in addition , he was featured in a lipton tea commercial , which first aired during the broadcast of super bowl xxviii . the advertisement paid tribute to the three stooges while satirizing his role in kung fu . in 2001 , he appeared in the episode the serpent of the syndicated tv series queen of swords as the sword - wielding bandit el serpiente filmed at texas hollywood studios in almeria , spain , home of many spaghetti westerns . david also did a guest appearance in episode 11 of lizzie mcguire as himself . david carradine took over hosting duties from his brother keith on wild west tech on the history channel , in 2005 . the same year he also played both himself and the ghost of a dead man for an episode of the nbc tv show medium . by 2006 , he had become the spokesperson for , a publisher of independent telephone directories in the united states . he also appeared as the ghost of time , clockwork , in two episodes of the animated series , danny phantom . he also starred in the 2008 tv movie , kung fu killer , in which he played a chinese martial arts master very similar to his kung fu series " caine " persona — his character in this movie named " white crane " , and mostly referred to or addressed as " crane " , frequently spoken with a sort of accent that minimized the r sound . posthumous releases the actor , who once received an award for being the hardest working member of his profession in hollywood , still had approximately a dozen films in " post - production " at the time of his death in 2009 . most of these roles were cameos or small parts in independent , direct to dvd productions . among them , a horror film , dark fields ( 2009 ) ; an action film , bad cop ( 2009 ) ; and a western , all hell broke loose ( 2009 ) . carradine also appeared in a minor role in yuen woo - ping 's chinese kung fu epic true legend . carradine and yuen first met while filming kill bill . yuen eulogized carradine on the true legend website , describing him as a " good friend " . yuen said of carradine , " ' he is among the first hollywood actors to perform chinese martial arts on the big screen . in real life he is also a genuine kung fu fan , and knows tai chi , qi gong and chinese medicine . same as i , people shall always remember his role as caine , the grasshopper , in kung fu , in the ' 70s , which was a really unforgettable performance . i feel both great honour and regret that true legend is one of david carradine 's last works . ' " one of carradine 's last leading roles was in the period drama golden boys , set in 1905 . it had only a limited theater run , and received little critical attention . it was released on dvd shortly after his death . his final released movie was the cult indy film , night of the templar , directed by his friend paul sampson , in which david wielded a sword ( katana ) for the final time on screen . almost like a foreshadowing , there are several peculiar and eerie references in the film that are coincidental to mr. carradine 's untimely passing which include cross dressing and auto erotic asphyxiation . his last scene on screen ended in the following dialog : " well , old friend , see you in the next life time ... " yeah , old friends , old soul mates " ... " yes , we are . carradine co - produced a full - length documentary about luthier stuart mossman , which has been identified as the actor 's last film appearance . the legend of stuart mossman : a modern , directed by barry brown , premiered at the santa barbara international film festival , in february 2010 . it featured david , keith and robert carradine performing their music on mossman guitars . mossman had appeared with carradine in cloud dancer ( 1980 ) , which brown also directed , and in the long riders . on the small screen , carradine appeared in a guest spot on the television series mental that was broadcast just days after his death . on october 3 , 2009 , celebrity ghost stories premiered on the biography channel with an interview of david carradine discussing his belief that his closet was haunted by his wife 's deceased previous husband . the segment , which was described as " eerie " , was filmed four months before his own death . in his last of many collaborations with producer roger corman , carradine appeared in the syfy channel 's science fiction monster movie vs . , over a year after he died . ken tucker , writing for entertainment weekly , said the film was " impeccable " and " goofy fun all the way " . at the time of this release , there were still four more unreleased films that credited david carradine , including stretch , which he was filming at the time of his death . directing career carradine made his directorial debut on three episodes of kung fu . while still performing on kung fu , he tried his hand at directing some independent films of his own . americana ( 1983 ) , took ten years to complete due to difficulty in financing . it featured carradine in the starring role and several of his friends and family members in supporting roles . the film won the people 's choice award at the director 's fortnight at cannes , but failed to achieve critical support or adequate distribution . other directorial attempts included you and me ( 1975 ) , and two unreleased productions : mata hari , an epic that starred his daughter , calista ; and a short musical called a country mile . martial artist carradine knew nothing of the practice of kung fu at the time he was cast in the role of kwai chang caine , instead he relied on his experience as a dancer for the part . he also had experience in sword fighting , boxing , and street fighting on which to draw . for the first half of the original series , david chow provided technical assistance with kung fu . he never considered himself a master of the art , but rather an " evangelist " of kung fu . by 2003 he had acquired enough expertise in martial arts to produce and star in several instructional videos on t 'ai chi and qigong . in 2005 , carradine visited the shaolin monastery in henan , china as part of the extra features for the third season of the kung fu dvds . during his visit , the abbot , shi , said that he recognized carradine 's important contribution to the promotion of the shaolin monastery and kung fu culture , to which carradine replied , " i am happy to serve . " music career in addition to his acting career , david carradine was a musician . he sang and played the piano , the guitar and the flute among other instruments . in 1970 , carradine played one half of a flower power beatnik duo in the season 4 ironside episode ' the ' , performing the songs ' i stepped on a flower ' , ' lonesome stranger ' and ' sorrow of the singing tree ' . he recorded an album titled grasshopper , which was released on jet records in 1975 . his musical talents were often integrated into his screen performances . he performed several of woody guthrie 's songs for the movie bound for glory . for the kung fu series he made flutes out of bamboo that he had planted on the warner brothers lot which he played on the program . he later made several flutes for the movie circle of iron , one of which he later played in kill bill . carradine wrote and performed the theme songs for at least two movies that he starred in , americana and sonny boy . the first line from the sonny boy theme , " paint " , which he wrote while filming americana in drury , kansas , in 1973 , is engraved on his headstone . he wrote and performed several songs for american reel ( 2003 ) and wrote the score for you and me . he and his brother , robert , also performed with a band , the cosmic rescue team ( also known as soul dogs ) . the band performed primarily in small venues and benefits . reports of arrests and prosecutions by his own account , in the late 1950s , while living in san francisco , young john a. carradine was arrested for assaulting a police officer ; he pleaded to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace . while in the army ( 1960 – 62 ) he faced court - martial , on more than one occasion , for shoplifting . after he became an established actor and had changed his name to david , he was arrested , in 1967 , for possession of marijuana . at the height of his popularity in kung fu , in 1974 , carradine was arrested again , this time for attempted burglary and malicious mischief . while under the influence of peyote , carradine , nude , began wandering around his laurel canyon neighborhood . he broke into a neighbor 's home , breaking a window and cutting his arm . he then bled all over the homeowner 's piano . at some time during this episode he accosted two young women , allegedly assaulting one while asking , or demanding of her , if she was a witch . the police literally followed a trail of blood to his home . the burglary charges were dropped , as nothing was found to be missing , while carradine pleaded " no contest " to the mischief charge and was given probation . he was never charged with assault , but the young woman sued him for $ 1 . 1 million and was awarded $ 20 , 000 . in 1980 , while in south africa filming safari 3000 ( also known as rally ) , which co - starred stockard channing , carradine was arrested for possession of marijuana . he was convicted and given a suspended sentence . he claimed that he was framed , in this case , by the apartheid government as he had been seen dancing with tina turner . during the 1980s , carradine was arrested at least twice for driving under the influence of alcohol , once in 1984 and again in 1989 . in the second case , carradine pleaded " no contest " . of this incident , the los angeles times reported : " legal experts say carradine was handed a harsher - than - average sentence , even for a second - time offender : three years ' summary probation , 48 hours in jail , 100 hours of community service , 30 days ' work picking up trash for the california department of transportation , attendance at a drunk driving awareness meeting and completion of an alcohol rehabilitation program . " in 1994 , while in toronto filming kung fu : the legend continues , carradine was arrested for kicking in a door at skydome while attending a rolling stones concert . when asked his reasoning , carradine claimed he was " worried about getting swarmed by people who recognized him so he wanted to get into the building . " personal life shortly after being drafted into the army in 1960 , carradine proposed marriage to donna lee becht ( born september 26 , 1937 ) , whom he had met while they were students at oakland high school . they were married on christmas day that year . she lived with him off - base in virginia while he was stationed at fort eustis . in april 1962 , she gave birth to their daughter calista . after carradine 's discharge , the family lived in new york while carradine established his acting career , appearing on broadway in the deputy and royal hunt of the sun . the marriage dissolved in 1968 , whereupon carradine left new york and headed back to california to continue his television and film careers . in 1969 , carradine met actress barbara hershey while the two of them were working on heaven with a gun . the pair lived together until 1975 . they appeared in other films together , including martin scorsese 's boxcar bertha . in 1972 , they appeared together in a nude playboy spread , recreating some sex scenes from boxcar bertha . that year , hershey gave birth to their son , free ( who at age nine changed his name to tom , much to his father 's chagrin ) . the couple 's relationship fell apart around the time of carradine 's 1974 burglary arrest , when carradine began an affair with season hubley , who had guest - starred on kung fu . carradine was engaged to hubley for a time , but they never married . in february 1977 , carradine married , in a civil ceremony in munich , germany , his second wife , linda ( née linda anne gilbert , born march 16 , 1950 ) , immediately following the filming of the serpent 's egg . linda is the former wife of the byrds lead guitarist , roger mcguinn , her and carradine 's daughter kansas was born april 19 , 1978 . carradine 's second marriage ended in divorce , as did the two that followed . he was married to gail jensen , from 1986 – 1997 . she died in april 2010 , at the age of 60 , of an alcohol - related illness . he was married to marina anderson from 1998 to 2001 . by this time , carradine had proclaimed himself to be a " serial monogamist . " on december 26 , 2004 , carradine married the widowed annie bierman ( née anne kirstie fraser , born december 21 , 1960 ) at the seaside malibu home of his friend , michael madsen . vicki roberts , his attorney and a longtime friend of his wife 's , performed the ceremony . with this marriage he acquired three stepdaughters , amanda ( born 1989 ) , madeleine rose ( born 1995 ) , and olivia juliette ( born 1998 ) as well as a stepson , actor max richard carradine ( born 1998 ) . in one of his final interviews , carradine stated that at 71 , he was still " in excellent shape , " attributing it to a good diet and having a youthful circle of friends . " everybody that i know is at least 10 or 20 years younger than i am . my wife annie is 24 years younger than i am . my daughter asks why i don 't hang with women my age and i say ' most of the women my age are a lot older than me ! ' " death on june 3 , 2009 , at the age of 72 , david carradine was found dead in his room at the swissôtel nai park hotel on wireless road , near road , in central bangkok , thailand . he was in bangkok to shoot his latest film , titled stretch . a police official said that carradine was found naked , hanging by a rope in the room 's closet , causing immediate speculation that his death was suicide . however , reported evidence suggested that his death was accidental , the result of autoerotic asphyxiation . two autopsies were conducted , one involving the celebrity pathologist , and both concluded that the death was not a suicide . the cause of death became widely accepted as " accidental asphyxiation " . immediately following his death , two of carradine 's former wives , gail jensen and marina anderson , stated publicly that his sexual interests included the practice of self - bondage . anderson , who had plans to publish a tell - all book about her marriage to carradine , said in an interview with access hollywood , " there was a dark side to david , there was a very intense side to david . people around him know that . " previously , in her divorce filing , she had claimed that " it was the continuation of abhorrent and deviant sexual behavior which was potentially deadly . " photographs of carradine at the death scene , as well as photographs of his autopsied body , were circulated in newspapers and on the internet . his family , represented by his brothers , keith and robert , pleaded with the public and the press to let them mourn their loved one in peace . carradine 's funeral was held on june 13 , 2009 , in los angeles . his bamboo casket was buried at forest lawn memorial park . among the many stars and family members who attended his private memorial were tom selleck , lucy liu , frances fisher , james cromwell , steve railsback , and chris potter . his grave was marked on december 3 , 2009 . the monument proclaimed him to be " the barefoot legend " and included a quote from " paint " , a song he wrote and performed as the theme to sonny boy , as an epitaph . wrongful death suit and murder accusations on the first anniversary of his death , carradine 's widow , annie , announced that she had filed a lawsuit for wrongful death against the company that produced the film carradine was working on at the time of his death . the lawsuit claimed that the company failed to provide assistance to the actor that had been agreed upon in his contract . " the suit alleges , the assistant left him behind for dinner on the night before the actor was found dead . the assistant and other film staffers apparently could not reach carradine and decided to leave without him . carradine called the assistant an hour later but was told the group was across town , and he would have to make his own arrangements that evening . " annie carradine reached a settlement with mk2 productions in august 2011 . she was reported to be receiving about us $ 400 , 000 from the company for carradine 's death . also , in june 2010 , marina anderson , carradine 's fourth ex - wife , published david carradine : the eye of my tornado , a memoir that discusses intimate details of their marriage . she also claimed publicly that she had conducted her own investigation of his death and concluded that he was murdered . close friend guthrie thomas stated , upon hearing that suicide was the cause of carradine 's death , " no one ties both of their hands behind their back previous to taking one 's own life . there had to be a second individual on the scene . " thomas also is convinced that this tragedy appeared to be murder . filmography video games saints row ( 2006 ) - william sharp ( voice ) awards and honors 1966 theatre world award , royal hunt of the sun 1974 tp de oro , spain . best foreign actor , kung fu 1997 gold star on the hollywood walk of fame , television 1998 : honoree — the 16th annual golden boot awards ( along with brothers keith and robert ) 2005 : action on film international film festival lifetime achievement award — first annual recipient 2005 : academy of science fiction , fantasy & horror films , saturn award , best supporting actor , kill bill : volume 2 2008 honoree — walk of western stars