Farewell, Grasshopper. David Carradine Is Gone...

Merrick here...
David Carradine has been found dead in Bangkok, having apparently hanged himself. Carradine was probably best known as Frankenstein in DEATH RACE 2000, Kwai Chang Caine ("Grasshopper") in KUNG FU, and Bill in the KILL BILLs - although his film and television credits are vastly more expansive. David's cinematic appearances include CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE, GRAY LADY DOWN, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT, THE LONG RIDERS, LONE WOLF McQUADE, BOUND FOR GLORY, and Scorsese's MEAN STREETS. Carradine's television work includes J.J. Abrams' ALIAS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, THE VIRGINIAN, WAGON TRAIN, NORTH AND SOUTH Books I & II, "Shane" in the 1966 series of the same name, KING OF THE HILL, TITUS, voice work on numerous cartoons and video games, and much, much, more. I hate writing obituaries and never know what to say - everything seems inadequate in times like these. In this instance, though, if I could say one last thing to him, it would be...simply..."Thank you, sir. You were damn cool to watch..."

Hey, guys. Quint here. I was lucky enough to have met Carradine on a couple of occasions. The first time was at a QT Fest here in Austin years before his eventual turn in KILL BILL. Tarantino was showing episodes of KUNG FU and Carradine had gotten wind of it and showed up. I loved his complete honesty as he mingled with his fans in the Alamo Drafthouse lobby that night. Why did you come out here for this? "I want a part in Quentin's next movie," he replied with a laugh. He charmed the pants off the audience and, obviously, Tarantino as well as he achieved his goal and got the title role in KILL BILL, a role he will be remembered for in the decades to come. It's hard to even think of the days when Warren Beatty was going to play the character now that we've seen what Carradine brought to the movie. I didn't spend much time talking to Carradine then, but I was invited to visit a movie set a couple of years later in Austin. It was Adam Rifkin's then titled HOMO ERECTUS, now called THE STONED AGE. Honestly, I never saw the finished movie, but my memory of that set visit was sitting out in the late Spring Texas sun with Carradine as he smoked and told stories. He was like the set's grumpy grandfather. Everybody was tiptoeing around him, but would gather around as he told stories of filming KILL BILL, working with Hal Ashby and reminiscing about KUNG FU. All while wearing little but a loin cloth that showed an inappropriate amount of skin. The man has 222 acting credits on his IMDB page. It's impossible to sum up his influence on film and television with only a sampling of his work, which realistically ranged from the amazing to the flat out horrible. But the dude was a workhorse, no two ways about it. My personal favorite stuff of his will always be his Roger Corman work. DEATH RACE 2000, CANNONBALL and BOXCAR BERTHA. And who could forget the absolutely bizarre Larry Cohen dragon-attacks-New-York flick Q: THE WINGED SERPENT? I also have a huge amount of love and respect for THE LONG RIDERS, Walter Hill's Jesse James Gang flick where he cast real brothers to play the Youngers and the Jameses. That flick saw Keith, Robert and David Carradine playing off each other and giving us some of their best work. My thoughts go out to Mr. Carradine's friends, family and fans.