When I Was Young

Posted: 15 June 2009 1049 hrs

Rob Schneider

LOS ANGELES: Hundreds gathered to honour actor David Carradine at his funeral in Los Angeles on Saturday, including many of his former co-stars.

His casket was carried to Forest Lawn Cemetery in a white hearse, accompanied by a Hell's Angels on motorcycles.

Born 1936 in Hollywood, Carradine "split" the world in 2009 in Thailand, as the funeral programme describes it.

Many of the Hollywood elite turned up to say goodbye to the man best known for his role in the 1970s "Kung Fu" TV series. Among them were Michael Madsen and Lucy Liu - his co-stars in "Kill Bill", the two-part saga that gave his career another jump-start.

Lucy Liu

Others who worked with him, including Rob Schneider, Tom Selleck and Jane Seymour, were also there to say their farewells.

According to the Associated Press, the burial was private and security guards ensured only invited guests gained entry. Carradine's family stayed out of sight from reporters and cameras.

The 72-year-old actor was found hanging naked and bound in a closet in a Bangkok hotel.

Thai authorities are still investigating his death.

A private pathologist has ruled out suicide.

- CNA/il

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Posted: 07 June 2009 1610 hrs

Flowers are placed on the star of actor David Carradine on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

BANGKOK: Thai police have defended their handling of the investigation into the death of David Carradine, after the US actor's family urged the FBI to step in and assist the probe.

Police said they suspect the star of the 1970s television series "Kung Fu" died in a sex act that went wrong after his naked body was found on Thursday in his Bangkok hotel room with rope tied around his neck and genitals.

A lawyer for the brother of the 72-year-old actor said at the weekend that the actor's family had met US Federal Bureau of Investigation officials to ask for help to discover exactly how Carradine died.

"I am confident we are working on the right track. US embassy representatives saw every step of the investigation process in the hotel room," Police Colonel Somprasong Yenthaum, who is leading the probe, told AFP.

He said Carradine's relatives had the right to seek help from the FBI, but added that the bureau would have to contact Thailand's attorney general who would then decide whether to forward the request to the police.

"We can work with FBI if they request and their request is passed. But if they don't come, we can do our jobs," he added.

Police are still awaiting the results of laboratory tests which will take between three and four weeks to come through before they can make an official conclusion about the cause of death.

Carradine was in the Thai capital to shoot a film called "Stretch" when he was found dead in the wardrobe of his luxury hotel room last week. His body was repatriated on a United Airlines flight early Saturday.

An initial autopsy report revealed that the actor died from a sudden lack of oxygen and his body showed no signs of struggle.

Mark Geragos, a lawyer for Carradine's brother, Keith, told a CNN talkshow on Friday that the actor's family rejected early reports that the actor had committed suicide and had met with FBI officials.

"They're looking into it through the FBI and trying to get to the bottom of this," Geragos said. "The family and Keith specifically doesn't for a minute think he was suicidal."

The actor was best known for his role as the fugitive half-Chinese Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV drama "Kung Fu" and for playing the title character in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" movies.

The roles earned Carradine a fourth Golden Globe "Best Actor" nomination. He was married five times, most recently in 2004, and was the father of two daughters.

- AFP/so

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Posted: 06 June 2009 1914 hrs

US actor David Carradine

BANGKOK: It will be four weeks until Thai police will be able to conclusively say how American actor David Carradine died, according to officials, as his body was flown back to the United States.

Thai police suspect Carradine, 72, died from a sex act that went wrong after his body was discovered Thursday morning hanging in a closet in a Bangkok hotel room, naked and with ropes attached to his neck and penis.

"(Forensic experts) will take three weeks to examine the toxicology tests and after that everybody concerned will meet to conclude the cause of death. It will take four weeks," said local police commander Somprasong Yenthaum.

The star of 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" and the hit "Kill Bill" movies was in the Thai capital to shoot a film called "Stretch."

An initial autopsy report revealed Carradine died from a sudden lack of oxygen and his body showed no signs of struggle.

Thai forensic expert Porntip Rojanasunan told AFP the death appeared to be caused by auto-erotic asphyxiation, the practice of intentionally cutting off oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

The actor's body was being repatriated on United Airlines flight 890 that left Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport at 6:48am (2348 GMT Friday) bound for Los Angeles and New York via Tokyo, local media and officials said.

Staff at the Nai Lert Park hotel where Carradine had been staying said the actor had entertained staff by playing a piano in the hotel lobby on three nights and seemed "very cheerful".

Several former colleagues, including director Quentin Tarantino, have given interviews since Carradine's death to quash rumours that it was a suicide.

Carradine was best known for his role as the fugitive half-Chinese Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV drama "Kung Fu."

But he failed to find great film success outside of cult "B movies" until Tarantino called on him to play the title character in the revenge-action films "Kill Bill" and "Kill Bill II".

- AFP/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Posted: 05 June 2009 0147 hrs

David Carradine (2006 file photo)

BANGKOK: US actor David Carradine, star of 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" and the "Kill Bill" movies, was found hanged in a Bangkok hotel room Thursday in what Thai police said was a possible suicide. He was 72.

The US embassy in the Thai capital confirmed the death of Carradine, who was in Thailand to shoot a film called "Stretch".

"He was found in his hotel room in Bangkok but the cause of death has not yet been established," an embassy official told AFP.

Police said Carradine's body was found around 11:30 am (0430 GMT) hanging by his neck in the closet of his hotel room. Local media said a maid found the actor "half-naked".

"We suspect that he committed suicide by hanging himself," local police officer Pirom Janthapirom told AFP, adding that security cameras showed no one else going in or out of Carradine's room.

"There is no trace of fighting in the hotel room and the room was locked from inside," he said, adding there was no sign of bruising on the deceased's body.

"We are investigating from where he got the rope because it does not seem it was from the hotel", and all of the actor's personal belongings "were intact", Pirom said.

The producer of "Stretch", French firm MK2, said Carradine was found at the Nai Lert Park hotel three days before the end of filming for the movie. A spokesman for the company said Carradine's death "could be accidental".

A spokeswoman for Carradine's Los Angeles agents said the "circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown."

"The Carradine family is devastated by the news of David's passing," said Julie Nathanson. "There will be no further comment until more information can be confirmed."

Carradine's manager, Chuck Binder, paid tribute to the actor, telling the BBC: "He was full of life, always wanting to work... a great person."

Carradine was the son of prominent actor John Carradine and part of an acting family that includes brothers Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine.

He was born on December 8, 1936, during Hollywood's "Golden Age" of cinema, though he first entered show business through musical theatre on New York's Broadway.

While best known for his role as the fugitive half-Chinese Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV drama "Kung Fu", Carradine had a long a varied career in film.

He appeared in Martin Scorsese's "Boxcar Bertha" in 1972, and played legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie in the 1976 film "Bound for Glory", which gained him a Golden Globe nomination.

The following year, director Ingmar Bergman called on Carradine to play a wandering out-of-work American Jew in poverty-struck Weimar Germany, for the movie "The Serpent's Egg."

Swedish master Bergman was said to have entrusted Carradine to take the role for his commanding physical presence, recalling that of his father.

In the following two decades Carradine continued to work, but failed to find success outside of cult "B movies," as he was beset by the use of drugs and alcohol.

In the mid-1990s, he reprised the role as Kwai Chang Caine in "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," which found home on US TV for a further 60 episodes.

A huge fan of his B movie work during the 1980s and 1990s, director Quentin Tarantino called on Carradine to play the title character in the 2002-2003 revenge-action-epic "Kill Bill" and "Kill Bill II."

Carradine's work on the movies earned him a fourth Golden Globe "Best Actor" nomination.

Married five times, most recently in 2004, and the father of two daughters, Carradine was still working at the time of his death.

- AFP /ls

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.