RIP David Carradine : Actor Dies in Bangkok Hotel Room

Thursday, June 4, 2009

RIP David Carradine 1936-2009

The man who played "Bill" in the cult film series Kill Bill, David Carradine, has died.

Reports in the US say actor David Carradine died of natural causes, but Thai authorities reportedly say David Carridine committed suicide...Developing story.

When contacted, Chuck Binder, Carradine's manager, says the actor was shooting a new movie in Bangkok and Binder believes he died of natural causes.

A report printed in a Thai newspaper said Carradine actually took his own life...more as we get it.

David Carradine was found dead in his Bangkok, Thailand hotel room, he was 73.

Reports published in Thailand's The Nation newspaper say David Carradine was staying at a Suite in Room 352 of the Park Nai Lert Hotel on Wireless Road in Bangkok. Carradine had been at the upscale hotel since June 2.

The crew of the film Carradine was working, 'Stretch', were Wednesday night aware of his absence, but believed the actor had simply retired to his hotel room when he did not show up to dinner at a restaurant on Sathorn Road, the newpaper said.

A Park Nai Lert hotel maid opened his suite on Thursday morning at 10 am local time, she found Carradine deadd in a closet and half naked. Another report said it was actually a producer of the film Stretch that found Carradine's body.

The Nation said a police investigation showed that he hung himself with a rope ripped off the hotel room curtains. Police said he was dead for not less than 12 hours and found no sign of fighting and assaults.

A BBC news reporter in the Thai capital who knew David Carradine said the death of the Kung Fu actor was "shocking", adding: "He was full of life, always wanting to work... a great person."

Born in Hollywood David Carradine began his acting career on stage, learning drama at University in San Francisco.

David Carradine is known for his roles as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s television series Kung Fu (as well as the sequels in the 1980s and 1990s), as well as 'Big' Bill Shelly in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha (1972), folksinger Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory (1976), Abel Rosenberg in Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977), and as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vols. 1 & 2 (2003, 2004)