David Carradine

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David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine on December 8, 1936 in Hollywood, California) is an American actor.

Contents 1 Career 2 Background and family 3 Selected filmography 4 Awards 5 Trivia 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Career

Carradine is best 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 Vol. I (2003) and Vol. II (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 on the television series Charmed and 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 is also known for producing and starring in several exercise videos teaching the martial arts of Tai chi and Qi Gong exercises. 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.

[edit] Background and family

Carradine is the son of noted American actor John Carradine. Born of Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Ukrainian, Cherokee and Italian descent, he is the half-brother of Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Bruce Carradine, and Michael Bowen. He is also the uncle of Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton.

He studied drama at San Francisco State University before working as an actor on stage as well as in television and cinema.

[edit] Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2006	Richard III	Buckingham
2004	Kill Bill: Vol. II	Bill
2004	Danny Phantom	Clockwork (starting in 2005).	Television
2003	Kill Bill: Vol. I	Bill
2001	Alias	Conrad	Television
2001	Lizzie McGuire	Himself	Television
1999	Charmed	Tempus	Television
1993-1997	Kung Fu: The Legend Continues	Kwai Chang Caine	Television
1991	Karate Cop	"Dad"
1991	Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat	Jozek Mardulak/Count Dracula
1990	Bird On A Wire	Sorenson
1986	Kung Fu:The Movie	Kwai Chang Caine	Television
1986	Behind Enemy Lines	Col.James Cooper
1985	North and South	Justin LaMotte	Television
1984	The Warrior and the Sorceress	Kain
1983	Lone Wolf McQuade	Rawley Wilkes
1983	Americana	The American Soldier
1980	The Long Riders	Cole Younger
1979	Mr. Horn	Tom Horn	Television
1978	Gray Lady Down	Capt. Gates
1978	Circle of Iron	The Blind Man/Monkeyman/Death/Changsha
1977	The Serpent's Egg	Abel Rosenberg
1976	Bound for Glory	Woody Guthrie
1976	Cannonball	Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman
1975	Death Race 2000	Frankenstein
1973	Mean Streets	Drunk
1972-1975	Kung Fu	Kwai Chang Caine	Television
1972	Boxcar Bertha	'Big' Bill Shelly
1967	The Violent Ones	Lucas Barnes
1967	Johnny Belinda	Locky	Television
1966	Shane	Shane	Television
1964	Taggart	Cal Dodge

[edit] Awards

Winner:

• 2005: Action On Film International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award [1]
• 2004: Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Kill Bill.
• 1976: National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Best Actor, - Bound for Glory.

Nominated:

• 2005: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Kill Bill.
• 1986: Golden Globe Awards: Mini-series, Best Supporting Actor, North and South.
• 1977: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Bound for Glory.
• 1974: Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Actor, Drama , Kung Fu.

[edit] Trivia

• 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 has also provided his voice for episodes of King of the Hill where he voiced the character of Hank's Japanese half brother 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.

• He has twice played a supernatural being with the power to control time: Tempus on Charmed and Clockwork on Danny Phantom.

• In 2006, he became the spokesman in the commercial for the YELLOW BOOK

• Provided the voice for Sharp, leader of the Westside Rollerz gang, on the video game Saint's Row.

• 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 will "look more like [himself]".

[edit] References

• Carradine, David. Endless Highway. Boston: Journey Editions, 1995.
• Pilato, Herbie J. The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western. Boston: Charles A. Tuttle, 1993. ISBN 0-8048-1826-6

[edit] External links

• Official website
• tv.com
• David Carradine at the Internet Movie Database
• David Carradine at the Internet Broadway Database
• Onion interview
• IGN interview with David Carradine
• "A Fresh Thing": David Carradine
• panartist.com
• Fan site