David Carradine was born in Hollywood, California, the eldest son of
legendary character actor John Carradine,
and his wife, Ardanelle Abigail (McCool). He was a member of an acting
family that included brothers
Keith Carradine and
Robert Carradine as well as his
daughters Calista Carradine and
Kansas Carradine, and nieces
Ever Carradine and
Martha Plimpton.
He was born in Hollywood and educated at San Francisco State College,
where he studied music theory and composition. It was while writing
music for the Drama Department's annual revues that he discovered his
own passion for the stage, joining a Shakespearean repertory company
and learning his craft on his feet. After a two-year stint in the army,
he found work in New York as a commercial artist and later found fame
on Broadway in "The Deputy" and "The Royal Hunt of the Sun" opposite
Christopher Plummer. With
that experience he returned to Hollywood, landing the lead in the
short-lived TV series Shane (1966)
before being tapped to star opposite
Barbara Hershey in
Martin Scorsese's first Hollywood film,
Die Faust der Rebellen (1972). The iconic
Kung Fu (1972) followed, catapulting
Carradine to super-stardom for the next three years, until he left the
series to pursue his film career.
That career included more than 100 feature films, a couple of dozen
television movies, a whole range of theater on and off Broadway and
another hit series,
Kung Fu - Im Zeichen des Drachen (1992).
Carradine received the Best Actor Award from the National Board of Film
Review as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of
Woody Guthrie in
Hal Ashby's
Dieses Land ist mein Land (1976), and he
won critical acclaim for his work as Cole Younger in
Long Riders (1980). "Kung Fu"
also received seven Emmy nominations in its first season, including one
for Carradine as Best Actor. In addition, he won the People's Prize at
the Cannes Film Festival's "Director's Fortnight" for his work on
Americana (1981), and a second Golden
Globe nomination for his supporting role in
Fackeln im Sturm (1985). Among
his other notable film credits were
U-Boot in Not (1978),
Hexenkessel (1973),
Ein Vogel auf dem Drahtseil (1990),
Der Tod kennt keine Wiederkehr (1973),
Das Schlangenei (1977) and
Das Geheimnis des blinden Meisters (1978). He returned
to the screen in what could be his greatest performance, playing the
title role in Quentin Tarantino's
Kill Bill - Vol. 1 (2003) and
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), for
which he received his fourth Golden Globe nomination. He also continued
his devotion to music, and recorded some 60 tracks in various musical
genres and sang in several movies. He made his home in Los Angeles with
his fifth wife Annie, her four children and their two dogs.
Found dead in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 3, 2009, aged 72.
