David Carradine Dead

I woke up this morning to some sad news. Actor David Carradine was found dead at the age of 72. It's a significant death because i grew up watching Carradine on the old King Fu television show with my Dad. I remember watching my Dad while he watched the show totally invested in the story line. To my father, Kung Fu was for real. My dad was old school, and back then the only thing he watched was wrestling, boxing, kung fu films and westerns (and being Latino he also liked Latin soap operas). My dad's favorite thing was to sit down to KDOC channel 56 and watch the re-runs of Carradine snatching the pebble from his masters' hand; good times.

I got to meet Carradine for the Kill Bill 2 press day, and he definitely lived up to his crazy reputation of being unpredictable. On that day he was a quiet man, basking in his new found glory the Tarratino film had given to him once again. Its sad anytime someone passes away, and more tragic when they take their own life as did Carradine. I always wonder how bad it must be to get to that point. Reading one of the many stories about his death, there were a few sentences that really stuck with me:

In a 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."

Rather than remember how Carradine died in real life, I lean more towards his demise in Kill Bill 2 as it is more dignified and honorable...and that's how I want to remember David Carradine.

Rest in peace Grasshopper; you have nothing more to worry about.