Everything about David Carradine totally explained
David Carradine (born
December 8,
1936) is an
American actor.
Biography
Early life
Carradine was born
John Arthur Carradine in
Hollywood, California, the son of Ardanelle Abigail (
née McCool) and noted
American actor John Carradine. He is the brother of
Bruce Carradine and half-brother of
Keith and
Robert Carradine, as well as the uncle of
Ever Carradine. Carradine has
Irish,
English,
Scottish,
Welsh,
German,
Spanish,
Italian,
Ukrainian and
Cherokee ancestry. Carradine studied drama at
San Francisco State University before working as an actor on stage as well as in television and cinema.
Career
Carradine is known for his roles as
Kwai Chang Caine in the
1970s television series
Kung Fu (as well as the sequels in the
1980s and
1990s), 'Big' Bill Shelly in
Martin Scorsese's
Boxcar Bertha (1972), folksinger
Woody Guthrie in
Bound for Glory (1976), Abel Rosenberg in
Ingmar Bergman's
The Serpent's Egg (1977), and as
Bill in
Quentin Tarantino's
Kill Bill (2003,2004).
Other notable roles include the lead in
Shane (the 1966 television series based upon the 1949 novel of the same name) and a
gunslinger in
Taggart, a
1964 western film based on a
novel by
Louis L'Amour. More recently, he portrayed
Tempus, a powerful demon with the ability to manipulate time, on the hit
television series Charmed, as well as Conrad in the television series
Alias. He currently appears as the host of
Wild West Tech on the
History Channel, taking over the duties from his brother Keith. Carradine has twice played a supernatural being with the power to control time: "Tempus" on
Charmed and "Clockwork" on
Danny Phantom.
Carradine appears in an episode of Disney's
Lizzie McGuire. In this episode, an upcoming
Jet Li film is auditioning boys the age of Lizzie's brother Matt for the role of the
sidekick. Carradine plays an old friend of Lizzie's father, Sam McGuire, who teaches Matt a few
Kung fu moves for his audition tape. When asked how he knows Carradine's character, Mr. McGuire replies cryptically, "He's like a brother to me." This is an
in-joke as the actor who portrays Sam,
Robert Carradine, is David Carradine's actual (half-) brother. Additionally, a large portion of the episode is spent in parody of
Kung Fu, one of Carradine's most famous projects. He also had an unusual guest appearance in an episode of
Medium: he played the spirit of a murdered mentally disturbed mathematician whose constant fantasies of being a hero caused him to believe he looked like David Carradine (which reflected in the appearance of his spirit). In the end of the episode, after his murderer is caught, he seems to improve and tells Allison that next time they meet he'll "look more like [himself]".
Carradine has also provided his voice for the
King of the Hill episode,
Returning Japanese where he voiced the character of Hank's Japanese half-brother, Junichiro, who lives in Japan. He provided the voice for Lo Pei, the ancient warrior who was responsible for Shendu's petrification in the animated series:
Jackie Chan Adventures.
Carradine is also known for producing and starring in several exercise videos teaching the martial arts of
Tai chi and
Qi Gong. Carradine actually had no knowledge of martial arts prior to starring in the series
Kung Fu, but developed an interest in it after this experience and has since become an avid practitioner.
Carradine narrated the PBS anthropology series "Faces of Culture". In 2006, he became the spokesman for
Yellow Book (directory), a publisher of independent telephone directories in the United States.
Carradine has also been the TV spokesperson for
Nestea ("This ain't no sippin' tea"), in a memorable commercial where he pays homage not only to
Kung Fu, but also to the
Three Stooges.
Carradine also appears in the music video for "Minus You" by the southern California band
Chapel of Thieves, which was co-directed by the YouTube personality
Boh3m3.
Carradine is still widely recognized as his
Kung Fu character, "Grasshopper"...a nickname to which he answers proudly.
Controversy
Some minority film critics have referred to Carradine's role in
Kung Fu as an example of a modern
Yellowface actor, as despite many long standing rumors to the contrary, Carradine isn't Asian decended from any known relatives.
Carradine's role on
Kung Fu (1972-1975) was originally promised and show concept (originally tentatively titled "the Warrior") was created by Jeet Kune Do creator and martial arts legend
Bruce Lee. However the studio purportedly recast the part with Carradine because of their belief that a Chinese leading man wouldn't be embraced by an early 1970s American TV audience.
The original show was to take place in China (this is when
Bruce Lee was considered). The studio spin was that the producers decided they wanted the show to take place in America, so the idea was sought to have the main character be half white. This way the racist townsfolk and/or bad guys wouldn't quite know if he was Chinese or not . Carradine's character
Kwai Chang Caine was half white (his father was American) and the studio claimed that it would have been very difficult to believe that a full blooded Chinese man would be able to walk from town to town in the American West in the 1800s. This is despite the fact that many of the shows centered around the bigotry that Caine faced due to being Chinese. The characters in the series obviously knew that Caine was Chinese and he was forced to use his then unknown
Kung Fu skills to defend himself and others from the various antagonists and situations presented on the show.
Filmography
Awards
Winner:
Nominated:
2005: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Kill Bill.
1986: , North and South.
1977: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Bound for Glory.
1974: , Kung Fu.Further Information
Get more info on 'David Carradine'.
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