Comic Book Resources

Oh, I thought you meant the Marvel Comics character Grasshopper… who (spoiler!) is also dead.

I never watched Kung-Fu, but I’m going to go and watch all those old episodes of Wild West Tech I still have on my DVR from the History Channel (David Carradine hosted the second and third seasons, after Keith Carradine hosted the first)…

Yeah, I’m thinking of re-watching both volumes of Kill BIll later today…

Check out “Bound For Glory” (which might be Carradine’s best work) which is an excellent film. It’s the story of Woody Guthrie and was nominated for best picture.

And while you’re at it, if you’ve never seen “The Long Riders”, rent it!
Great western, with the unique casting of actual acting brothers portraying historical brothers:
David, Keith & Robert Carradine played the Younger brothers
James & Stacy Keach played the James brothers
Dennis & Randy Quaid played the Miller brothers
and Christopher & Nicholas Guest as the Ford brothers.

That’s a real shame. I’ve never seen Kung-Fu (only the 90s spin-off “The Legend Continues”), but he seemed like a cool guy.

But like Tom Daylight, I’m embarrassed to admit, I thought you meant the Marvel character (or rather characters, all of whom are also dead).

Have a good day.
John Cage

Wow, 72 years young. That’s a terrible shame. I hope he is in a better place, now.

I’ve also watched the show on DVD, the special features where he and some of his friends go to China is a real treat!

Take it and run,

He’s an icon of awesome. This is a horrible shame.

i loved watching Kung Fu in re-runs as a kid, and some of its philosophy really influenced me as a child. It still informs some of my thinking today as an adult. i loved David Carradine’s portrayal and have got all 3 seasons on dvd. The third season gets a little wacky at times, but still a great watch.
If you listen to the commentaries, you get a sense of how radical this show was. It was the first time that Asians were on tv in large numbers, and the producers tried to introduce some real Chinese concepts.
Bruce Lee was considered for the main role, but they decided that he wasn’t right for the part, while David Carradine was more the contemplative, reluctant warrior.
Great stuff!
DFTBA

Kung Fu is directly responsible for getting into practicing Martial Arts (something like 17 years of training and practice now) and had a massive impact on me to this very day. Not a terribly flattering way to check out though. But still, Carradine is one of the few example of a celebrity who actually changed my life on various levels and I’ll never forget that.

Never mind anyone giving him a hard time about going barefoot; rather, he might get guff for supposedly being found naked and hanging in a Bangkok hotel room closet. (Sounds kinda George Reeves-esque, no?)

Check out the BBC, lest people think I am rumor-mongering: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8083479.stm

Kung-Fu has one of my favorite fight scenes. A ninja throws a shuriken at Caine…who sidesteps. Ninja throws another…he sidesteps. Awesome. No drama, no fast editing cuts, no bombastic music.

Carradine did almost all of his own stunts for the show. Very talented!
DFTBA

>Sounds kinda George Reeves-esque, no?

Sure does. Friends in Hollywood are already saying he would never commit suicide and that Something Else must have happened.

Huh…all these posts and no one’s mentioned Batgirl’s father, David Cain, named in homage to David Carradine an his character in Kung Fu?

The evidence is, apparently, pointing towards an autoerotic misadventure.

Regardless of what it turns out to be, it’s a damn shame.

That sucks, RIP.

Likewise. RIP David.

I never heard about the barefoot thing, but oddly enough I watched Kill Bill again tonight and he died barefoot in there.

Damn… Worst news I’ve gotten in a long while. David was a complex guy. He’d been known to struggle with inner demons for many years and had been candid about it in interviews. I was hoping after the success of the Kill Bill films that things would be going easier for him. What a great loss. As most fans know, David loved comic books and collected original art. I always thought that was really cool somehow. I hope he has found the peace he reflected so much in his art but never found in real life.

Kung Fu was one of the shows that I didn’t just enjoy, it had an effect on my life. To this day, some of the lessons of the show stick in mind. I particularly remember one where “Little Grasshopper’s” life is saved by his Master, then when asked how to repay him, he was told to find three people and help them, then ask those people to do the same, and so on, and that eventually, the good he did would come back to him. Like in that song, “You give a little love, and it all comes back to you.”

Rest in Peace, David. Be assured, your legacy will live on.

Vale David Carradine.

What about a Comic Book Legends piece on David? The Legend Ive oft heard is that Bruce Lee came up with the idea for Kung Fu as a star vehicle for himself and was told by TV networks the series concept was great except that they didn’t want an Asian in the lead (due to network advertisers, concerns about audience acceptance etc.)

That might work better as a “TV Legends Revealed” over on Brian’s other site. So far two have been mentioned here I’d be interested in reading more about: the barefoot thing and the replacing Bruce Lee story.

I’d be interested in reading more about: the barefoot thing….

I think the only person who really cared about that was my mother. But I did a little Googling around and it was the Merv Griffin show, not Mike Douglas. I misremembered it. They were both in the early afternoon back then.

But the rant from Mom has stuck all these years. The idea that someone would show up on a talk show like that — “He had that long stringy hair, and his jeans were filthy and he was BAREFOOT!” — just appalled her. Remember, in the early 1970′s you could still get beat up for having long hair. People hated hippies, especially in conservative whitebread towns like the one I grew up in.

At least he died doing what he loved.

[...] R.I.P., Grasshopper. (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

I got a pic taken with him at a con once – it didn’t develop which was a shame… remember when photos had to develop? – and he was letting you get pics and autographs for free.
Only film person who was doing anything for free.
And it was just after the first Kill Bill came out, so he was the biggest star there by a long shot.
Mr. Sulu or an extra from Star Wars – forty bucks.
The guy in the big film, free.
Thought that was cool.

And now he joins the ranks of Michael Hutchinson for the ‘sick of life’ or ‘couldn’t masturbate’ debate!

Carradine’s death will be the topic of further discussion. There’s a new book on the way called “David Carradine: The Eye of My Tornado”. Maybe it will carry on the suicide vs. asphyxiation vs. ninja assassination debate.