Bill’s Been Killed? – David Carradine Dead in Bangkok

Sadly, it appears that David Carradine has killed himself.  According to news sources in Bangkok, he was found in his hotel room, possibly in the wardrobe, with a curtain cord around his neck.  (They also mention the possibility of other cords wrapped on him, but have called this a suicide at this point – no details have been released to protect his family.  However, the extra ropes make me wonder about accidental/autoerotic asphyxiation if they don’t think it’s a homicide, but that’s just a supposition on my part.) 

Carradine had been in Bangkok filming a new movie when his body was found by a hotel maid on Thursday morning. According to people associated with the production, he had failed to show up for a dinner the night before, but no one had been concerned at that point.  (According to reports, he had been dead for approx. 12 hours when he was finally discovered.)  He was 72 at the time of his passing.

Even though Carradine had hundreds of movie and TV credits, he will no doubt be best known for his iconic role as  Kwai Chang Caine in KUNG FU. And while the character of Caine was envisioned and created in the 1970s by Bruce Lee (who fully expected to play it, but Hollywood had other ideas), Carradine managed to pull off the half-Chinese, half-European West-wanderer for 3 years (and quite a few movies and a 2nd TV series based on the same character 20 years later.)  Not bad for a man who had Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee ancestry, but not a drop of Asian, eh?

Carradine’s career then faded into a series of B, C (and sometimes Z level movies) and small parts on TV shows, mostly in the martial arts and horror genres.  He could never quite capture that movie magic again, that is, until Quentin Tarantino made him "Bill" in 2003. (Even that part was to be someone else’s originally: Warren Beatty was supposedly tapped to play it as a "James Bondesque" assasin, but he bowed out, suggesting Carradine instead.)  However, even with that hit, afterwards Carradine still was only offered parts in non-mainstream movies as martial arts villains or supporting roles. He just couldn’t seem to find the fame he sought.

Carradine told the AP 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."

I can’t say he was my favorite actor, but David Carradine was definitely a part of my TV-watching childhood, and I admit I thoroughly enjoyed KUNG  FU, watching all the episodes (from both series), and he did Bill justice, not an easy thing to do. 

May he rest in peace… 

Technorati Tags: ACTORS, David Carradine, Kill Bill, Kung Fu, Suicide

2008 Emmy Awards Announced

In a new twist, 2 basic cable shows, MAD MEN and DAMAGES, also managed to achieve Best Series nominations, something basic cable programs had never managed to do until now.

Here are just some of the 2008 nominees (with the ones I’d like to see win in red):
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Technorati Tags: ACTORS, Awards, Battlestar Galactica, Emmy's, House, Hugh Laurie, Tin Man, TV

FINAL FILMS: Actors Who Died Too Soon

With Heath Ledger’s death before THE DARK KNIGHT was released, he joined a sad, but growing number of actors and actresses who died before their last movie was finished and/or released.

Not all final movies have gone on to break box office records like THE DARK KNIGHT–in its opening 10 days it’s already done over $330 million–but they all mark a sad moment when a Hollywood star was lost.

Here are just some of the actors who passed too quickly and their final films:

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Name	Last Movie	Year Died	Age	How They Were Taken
Aaliyah	THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED	2001	22	Plane crash.
John Candy	WAGON’S EAST	1994	43	Coronary embolism leading to heart attack while sleeping.
Gary Cooper	THE NAKED EDGE	1961	60	Prostate cancer which metastasized to his bones. Filming was finished, but the film had not been released yet.
James Dean	REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE	1955	24	Car crash. Received first posthumous Best Actor Oscar and only actor to have two posthumous nominations.
Dominique Dunne	THE SHADOW RIDERS (TV)	1982	22	Strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend before the film was released.
Chris Farley	ALMOST HEROES	1994	33	Drug overdose.
Gloria Foster	THE MATRIX RELOADED	2001	67	Complications from diabetes after filming was finished but before the movie was released.
Clark Gable	THE MISFITS	1960	59	Heart attack. Filming had been completed but the movie had not been released yet.
Jean Harlow	SARATOGA	1937	26	Uremic poisoning during filming after years of kidney problems.
Richard Harris	HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS	2002	72	Hodgkin’s disease a few weeks before the movie was released.
Phil Hartman	SMALL SOLDIERS	1998	49	Shot to death by his wife before she committed suicide.
John Hodiak	ON THE THRESHOLD OF SPACE	1955	41	Heart attack at home while getting ready to go to the studio.
Raul Julia	STREET FIGHTER	1994	54	Stroke after suffering from stomach cancer a few days before filming ended.
Heath Ledger	THE DARK KNIGHT	2008	28	Acute (fatal) intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.
Ernie Kovacs	IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD	1962	42	Car crash before filming began.
Brandon Lee	THE CROW	1993	28	Accidental gunshot wound during filming. A prop gun that was supposed to have only blanks still had a bullet lodged in the barrel from an earlier test firing of blanks that were made from real cartridges to cut time.
Bruce Lee	ENTER THE DRAGON	1973	32	Supposedly died due to hypersensitivity to the muscle relaxant in Equagesic. His death was ruled “death by misadventure.”
Carole Lombard	TO BE OR NOT TO BE	1942	33	Plane crash while on a war bonds tour during post-production.
Bernie Mac	SOUL MEN;  MADAGASCAR:  ESCAPE 2 AFRICA	2008	50	Pneumonia
Marilyn Monroe	SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE	1962	36	Accidental chloral hydrate and Nembutal overdose.
Heather O’Rourke	POLTERGEIST III	1988	12	Septic shock from an acute bowel obstruction.
River Phoenix	DARK BLOOD	1993	23	Heroine and cocaine (speedball) overdose.
Tyrone Power	SOLOMON AND SHEBA	1958	44	Heart attack during a strenuous dueling scene.
Oliver Reed	GLADIATOR	1999	61	Heart attack during a filming break after a heavy drinking and arm wrestling bout.
John Ritter	BAD SANTA	2003	54	Aortic dissection (rupture) from a congenital heart defect while filming his TV series, but before the film was released.
Adrienne Shelley	WAITRESS; SERIOUS MOONLIGHT	2007	40	Originally considered a suicide, it was reclassified a homicide when a man confessed to strangling her and hanging her body in her shower after she caught him stealing from her purse.
Spencer Tracy	GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER	1967	67	Heart attack after filming, but before film was released.
Natalie Wood	BRAINSTORM	1981	43	Accidental drowning.

May They All Rest in Peace…

Technorati Tags: ACTORS, Heath Ledger, Heather O'Rourke, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Oliver Reed

Patrick Swayze Diagnosed With Pancreatic Cancer

How crappy – I just read that Patrick Swayze, star of GHOST, DIRTY DANCING and POINT BREAK, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That’s one of those really nasty ones that hides and doesn’t seem to cause problems until it’s usually too late to do anything about it. (Jack Benny died from it – about a month after they figured out what he had!)

“Patrick is currently undergoing treatment,” a rep for the actor said in a statement released on Wednesday. “He is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects. The outpouring of support and concern he has already received from the public is deeply appreciated by Patrick and his family.”

Based on info from the American Cancer Society, the average 1-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 20%, while the five-year rate is only 4%. Those aren’t very good odds in my opinion!

Here’s hoping they caught it early enough that with some of the new treatments available they’ll be able to do something for him. I’d really hate to lose another favorite actor so soon after Heath Ledger and Roy Scheider.

For more info on pancreatic cancer, see the American Cancer Society

Technorati Tags: ACTORS, HEALTH, Patrick Swayze