David Carradine

John Arthur Carradine aka David Carradine was born December 8, 1936 and died June 3, 2009 of asphyxiation. Carradine was a renowned martial artist and American actor awarded and praised for his starring performance as, Kwai Chang Caine, in Kung Fu a Western themed television series.
Carradine's father was John Carradine a prominent actor whose influence convinced David to become an actor in his own right. David's acting career included major and minor roles on stage, in television and cinema and lasted for over four decades. Carradine appeared in over one-hundred films and was nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award. One of Carradine's nominations was for his role in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
His role as Kwai Chang Caine influenced Carradine to study martial arts. This was a practice that seemed to give him a sense of purpose. He needed stability since his childhood was highly unbalanced which lead to five marriages, frequent arrests for substance abuse and childhood suicide attempts.
While studying drama and music theory at San Francisco State Collect Carradine wrote music for the drama departments' revues. He spent time with beatnik groups and sold baby pictures. Carradine's working career included a stint in the United States Army were he drew picture for trainings ads. He also established a theater company which became known as the entertainment unit.
Carradine made his television debut on Armstrong Circle Theatre and had parts in the Alfred Hitchcock Hour and a film debut in 1964's Taggart. He won a Theatre World Award for his performance in The Royal Hunt of the Sun, a Broadway performance. Movie work included Circle of Iron (his best work), Cole Younger in The Long Riders (his most memorable role), and the Kill Bill movies in 2003 and 2004.
Carradine was buried in a bamboo casket and his monument gives him the title of Barefoot Legend and a quote from a song he wrote and performed.