David Carradine, the martial arts icon whose “Kung Fu” TV series reflected his signature combination of slam-bang action and calm reflection, hanged himself Thursday in a hotel room in Bangkok. He was 72.
A maid at the Park Nai Lert Hotel found Carradine hanging in the closet, naked, with a curtain rope around his neck and another body part.
Early Thai police reports called the death an apparent suicide. Carradine’s manager, Chuck Binder, disputed that.
It was “accidental,” Binder said. “He was full of life, always wanting to work … a great person.”
Friends were worried about the “Kill Bill” star after he failed to show up for a scheduled dinner engagement.
Reports in the Thai and British press suggested Carradine may have died after attempting an erotic asphyxiation act.
Other reports noted he had spoken about suicide in interviews.
The Telegraph, a London paper, quoted him in a 2004 interview saying, “Look, there was a period in my life when I had a single-action Colt .45, loaded, in my desk drawer. And every night I’d take it out and think about blowing my head off, and then decide not to and go on with my life.”
Carradine was born into Hollywood stock, son of actor John Carradine and half-brother of Robert and Keith.
Because of his craggy looks and stern countenance, he was initially cast in Westerns – including the short-lived 1966 TV series “Shane.”
His big break came in 1972 with a role that combined the East and the Old West: Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who wandered the 19th century frontier in the TV series “Kung Fu.”
The show, one of the unlikeliest hits in TV history, ran two-and-a-half seasons until Carradine abruptly quit.
His most prominent later role was the title character in the 2003-04 Quentin Tarantino cult films “Kill Bill.”
Carradine, who waited until a few days after his 70th birthday to marry his longtime companion, Annie, kept a low profile off the screen.
In a recent interview he said death did not scare him. “Why would you be afraid of death? It would be an inconvenience. I have a lot of undone things and it’s bound to get in the way.”
