David Carradine Died

[Rasputin]

Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.


A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.


It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.


The newspaper said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.


It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.


A police officer at Bangkok's Lumpini precinct station would not confirm the identity of the dead man, but said the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel had reported that a male guest killed himself there.


Carradine was a leading member of a venerable Hollywood acting family that included his father, character actor John Carradine, and brother Keith.


In all, he appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. One of his prominent early film roles was as singer Woody Guthrie in Ashby's 1976 biopic "Bound for Glory."


But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series "Kung Fu," which aired in 1972-75.


He reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues."


He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill."


The character, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill - Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates.


In "Kill Bill - Vol. 2," released in 2004, Thurman's character comes face to face again with Bill himself. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actor.


Bill was a complete contrast to his TV character Kwai Chang Caine, the soft-spoken refugee from a Shaolin monastery, serenely spreading wisdom and battling bad guys in the Old West. He left after three seasons, saying the show had started to repeat itself.


After "Kung Fu," Carradine starred in the 1975 cult flick "Death Race 2000." He starred with Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977 and with his brothers in the 1980 Western "The Long Riders."


But after the early 1980s, he spent two decades doing mostly low-budget films. Tarantino's films changed that.


"All I've ever needed since I more or less retired from studio films a couple of decades ago ... is just to be in one," Carradine told The Associated Press in 2004.


"There isn't anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn't do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin's courage to take and put me in the spotlight."


One thing remained a constant after "Kung Fu": Carradine's interest in Oriental herbs, exercise and philosophy. He wrote a personal memoir called "Spirit of Shaolin" and continued to make instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.


In the 2004 interview, Carradine talked candidly about his past boozing and narcotics use, but said he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.


"I didn't like the way I looked, for one thing. You're kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger."


"You're probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions," Carradine said. "Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.


"It's time to do nothing but look forward."

[Rasputin]

After a maid found David Carradine's body in a closet in his Bangkok hotel room, police called it a suspected suicide. But the actor's manager refuses to believe it.

"I can tell you 100 percent that he would have never committed suicide," Tiffany Smith, who along with Chuck Binder managed the Kill Bill star, tells PEOPLE. "He was too full of life."

Carradine, 72, was in Thailand filming the movie Stretch when his nude body was discovered Thursday morning. The body was in a sitting position, with a yellow rope wrapped around the neck and attached to a closet bar, said police Col. Somprasong Yentuam, chief of the Lumpini area station. "We believe that Mr. David committed suicide but it is suspicious," said Yentuam.

Although Carradine had spoken openly of his past battles with drugs and alcohol and thoughts of suicide, his manager says the actor had been in good spirits, eager to work on the current film and three more lined up when he returned to the United States.

"We are not saying it's an accidental death because we don't know," says Smith. "Right now we are just letting everyone know that it's under investigation and we'll see ... I just know he didn't do this to himself."

The actor's family was stunned by the news. In a statement, Carradine's niece, actress Martha Plimpton, expressed the family's sense of loss. "My Uncle David was a brilliantly talented, fiercely intelligent and generous man," Plimpton said.

"He was the nexus of our family in so many ways, and drew us together over the years and kept us connected. I adored him as a child, and as an adult I admired and respected him. We will all miss him terribly."

[Rasputin]

David Carradine entered the lobby of Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park luxury hotel at about 3 p.m. last Sunday asking for a favor. Would they mind if he stretched his fingers and played the grand piano?

The hotel staff said be our guest, and for three days in a row the Kill Bill star serenaded people in the lobby with movie tunes. His final performance was late Tuesday night – two days before he was found dead.

"He was a great piano player," says the hotel's general manager, Aurelio Giraudo. "He was a man full of life. He was a very happy man. His face is smiling. A big smile."

As the mystery deepens around Carradine's death, police have remained cautious about coming to conclusions. But they did confirm the shocking scene when a maid found the actor's body. Carradine was nude in the closet of his luxury suite with one rope tied around his neck and another around his genitals.

"The two ropes were tied together," says police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha, the Associated Pres reports. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not, or he died of suffocation or heart failure." An autopsy has been ordered because of the "unusual circumstances" surrounding the death, says Dr. Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital's Autopsy Center.

Colleagues and hotel guests who witnessed Carradine's demeanor days before he died described him as joyous and productive. By day, he was working hard on the set of his film, Stretch, and "things were going great," says one member of the production. "We were liking what we saw. We are as surprised and shocked as everyone else."

At night, after his impromptu piano riffing, the actor would drift over to the lobby bar near midnight to play his bamboo flute for the patrons and indulge in a vodka shot, a coke, and retire to his room to have a "special whiskey," says one patron.

"Even though he's 72, he didn't look old at all," says the hotel bartender, who described Carradine as "strong, happy" and dressed in jeans and T-shirt.

According to the police, Carradine entered his room Wednesday night, and the door stayed shut until the maid arrived to clean at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

"The room was a very normal hotel room," says police Col. Somprasong Yenthuam. "Nothing seemed unusual, nothing seemed to have disappeared. The truth is, it was a very sad hanging."

Yenthuam says a complete toxicology analysis will take about four weeks and at that time, they will conduct a press conference to present their findings. "I'm very careful to not jump to any conclusion about what's happened here. It's my job to give the facts as best as possible. I don't want to make any conclusion until the autopsy is complete."

If suicide was on the actor's mind – a scenario those close to him say is impossible – it wasn't obvious to those in the hotel. According to the bartender, Carradine made a reservation for a table for himself and a group of friends for a gathering.

The date of the reservation? Thursday, the day he was found dead.

[Rasputin]

The FBI has offered its assistance to Thai authorities investigating Thursday’s death of actor David Carradine, agency officials tell PEOPLE.

After Carradine’s half-brother, Keith Carradine, met Friday with FBI officials in Los Angeles, those officials contacted the FBI's legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok “to determine if the Thai authorities are requesting or would welcome FBI assistance in this matter,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimilller tells PEOPLE. She adds there is no word yet as to whether Thai authorities will invite the FBI to join their investigation.

The FBI has no jurisdiction in other countries, but occasionally offers assistance investigating the deaths of Americans when foul play is suspected or when the family requests such intervention.

Keith Carradine, 59, “wants authorities to investigate his brother’s death, and to determine if anyone else was involved,” says Keith Carradine’s attorney, Mark Geragos, who arranged Friday’s meeting with the FBI.

Geragos tells PEOPLE that Keith and other family members are finding the grieving process even more difficult because they keep getting conflicting details regarding the condition of Carradine’s body when it was discovered.

Thai police had confirmed that a maid found Carradine, 72, nude in the closet of his luxury suite with a rope tied around his neck and one around his genitals. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not, or he died of suffocation or heart failure," said police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha, the Associated Pres reported. An autopsy was ordered because of the "unusual circumstances" surrounding the death, said Dr. Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital's Autopsy Center.

For those who knew Carradine well, Geragos says the possibility that Carradine’s death was a suicide seems unlikely – he had a lust for life, a busy career and even a new sports car.

“The information keeps evolving, and that’s troubling them,” Geragos tells PEOPLE. He adds that although it has been reported that surveillance footage indicates no one entered or left David Carradine’s hotel room during the time he likely died, the family would like the FBI to review that evidence as well.

“It’s hard to start the grieving process when you don’t have all the information on what happened,” says Geragos. “Family members, including Keith and Hayley (DuMond, Keith’s companion), are frustrated and in shock.”

An autopsy has already been conducted on David Carradine in Bangkok, but a second might be done in the United States by the family, sources say.

[Rasputin]

David Carradine didn't commit suicide, but the cause of his death is still unclear, according to a pathologist hired by the actor's family.

"The autopsy findings and the evidence thus far available demonstrate that Mr. Carradine's death was not the result of suicide," Dr. Michael Baden said in a prepared statement released through the Associated Press Thursday. "However, to reach a final determination as to the cause and the manner of death we must wait for further information from Thailand as to the scene findings and the completion of the crime laboratory and toxicology studies that are still being performed."

While Thai police initially said the actor had likely committed suicide, details soon emerged about how he was found – nude, with cords wrapped around his wrists, neck and genitals – that gave rise to speculation Carradine had died accidentally during an autoerotic act.

Citing conflicting reports about the circumstances of the death, the actor's brother, Keith Carradine last week asked the FBI to help determine if someone else may have been involved.


Brother's Disbelief
Carradine's brother Bruce told PEOPLE. "In a sad way, I'm glad to hear it confirmed that David didn't commit suicide. I never believed he took his own life. He just had too much to live for."

Thursday the Kill Bill star's brothers, Keith and Robert Carradine, thanked the public for their support and asked that people give them privacy until their half-brother is buried, and until investigators have examined all the evidence and figure out what happened.

"His is a devastating loss for our family and we greatly appreciate the compassion pouring in from all over the world," Keith says. "We wish to express our gratitude to the government of Thailand and the Lumpini Police Station in Bangkok for their support and cooperation and to the U.S. Department of State for their assistance."

Robert Carradine adds: "Until we have all of the pending results of the investigation we respectfully ask that we be allowed to lay our beloved brother, husband and father, grandfather and great-grandfather to rest in peace and with dignity. Once the investigation is fully completed and definitive conclusions have been reached, we will address the findings with the public. Thank you for your understanding during this profoundly painful time."

According to a source, Carradine's funeral will be held on Saturday in California.

[Rasputin]

Tom Selleck, Jane Seymour, Lucy Liu and hundreds of other friends and family members turned out to say goodbye to David Carradine in Los Angeles Saturday evening.

Held in a chapel on the grounds of Forest Lawn Cemetery, the star's funeral drew mourners in all manner of dress, including kilts, Native American headdresses, leather fringe jackets, sandals and multi-colored cowboy boots. Even a group of Hell's Angels was there to bid farewell to Carradine, who was found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok on June 4.

"It was touching, but light-hearted," Carradine's older brother Bruce tells PEOPLE. "There weren't a lot of tears, but there was a lot of laughter."

A white hearse containing Carradine's casket arrived at the cemetery around 3 p.m., accompanied by an escort of Hell's Angels on motorcycles. The service started about two hours later after an estimated 400 people filed into a chapel on the grounds of the 400-acre cemetery to mourn the star, who was best known for his leading role of Kwai Chang Caine on TV's Kung Fu.


Sharing Memories
Over the next two hours, Carradine's brothers, children and friends – including his Kill Bill costar Michael Madsen and pal Stacy Keach, who starred in The Long Riders with Carradine – stood and shared memories of the actor with the crowd. A photo montage of the 72-year-old star's life was projected on a big screen and two of his children performed on the piano and harp.

"Michael shared a list of rules to live by that David had given him years ago," says Bruce. "These included advice like, 'Never marry a woman named Candy,' and 'Never buy anything from a man who is out of breath.' "

Following the service, a group of Lakota tribal members burned incense outside the chapel and gave blessings to a number of funeral-goers, including actress Daryl Hannah, who also starred with Carradine in Kill Bill. Carradine's casket was then taken to his grave site.

The investigation into the cause of Carradine's death is ongoing. He was found hanging and partially bound in his hotel room. Citing conflicting reports about the circumstances of the death, the actor's brother, Keith Carradine, asked the FBI to help with the investigation, and also hired an independent pathologist.

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