Good-bye, Grasshopper

I was saddened to hear that actor David Carradine, who is probably still best known for portraying a justice-seeking Shaolin monk on the 1972-1975 TV historical drama Kung Fu, was found dead this morning in his hotel suite in Bangkok, where he’d gone to shoot a new film, Stretch. Carradine, part of a prominent acting family, was 72 years old. According to BBC News, he was “found by a hotel maid sitting in a wardrobe with a cord around his neck and other parts of his body.”

The main title sequence from Kung Fu is embedded below. If you are feeling especially nostalgic, YouTube hosts the pilot film for that ABC-TV series in several parts, beginning here.



READ MORE: “R.I.P., David Carradine,” by Marty McKee (Johnny LaRue’s Crane Shot); “Carradine Around the Web,” by Marty McKee (Johnny LaRue’s Crane Shot); “Thai Police: Carradine Death May Be Accidental,” by Tim Johnston (The Washington Post); “David Carradine, 1936-2009,” by Dennis Cozzalio (Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule); “Good-bye, Grasshopper,” by Kevin Nance (Obit).