Actor David Carradine, suicide

manny15 · Jun 4, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Jun-04-09 AT 09:26AM (MST)[p]I just don't understand this kinda crap,suicide!

BANGKOK ? Actor Dsuicideavid Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.

It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.

The newspaper said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.

It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

A police officer at Bangkok's Lumpini precinct station would not confirm the identity of the dead man to The Associated Press, but said the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel had reported that a male guest killed himself there.

Carradine was a leading member of a venerable Hollywood acting family that included his father, character actor John Carradine, and brother Keith.

In all, he appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby.

But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series "Kung Fu," which aired in 1972-75.

He reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues."

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill."

slamdunk · Jun 4, 2009

Horrible news losing another "one of the good guys" super hero type, what a loss......

Wiszard · Jun 4, 2009

If a guy were going to committ suicide, why would you hang yourself. It seems like a horrible way to go. That is sad news.

Steve

caelkhnter · Jun 5, 2009

Reports on the radio this morning indicate it may not have been suicide afterall...???

BGbasbhat · Jun 5, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Jun-05-09 AT 07:59AM (MST)[p]It's sure a shame. I thought he was a pretty cool dude..

By the way, word on the street is he didn't intentionally hang himself....If it's true, I sure hope he's remembered for how he lived and not how he died.

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060500909.html]

"...I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six..."

WapitiBob · Jun 5, 2009

If he had watched CSI he would have seen the possible outcome of his (alleged) rope trick.

NVBighorn · Jun 5, 2009

GotBowAz · Jun 5, 2009

When I read this post yesterday I was thinking that it was strange for him to do such a thing to himself. Then I remembered the lead singer for Inexsess (SP) that had accidently killed himself on a Florida tour right after thier tour here in Arizona that I was at when he did the same in this link here <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060500909.html>
That BGbashbhat posted above. Regardless it's a shame, I really enjoyed many of the movies he was in and his Kung Fu series.

GBA

D13er · Jun 5, 2009

you'd think a 72 year old man would have "choking the chicken" down pat at that age.....what a dumbass.....

great post/pic, thanks for sharing

JB

kilowatt · Jun 5, 2009

Police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha told reporters that Carradine was found with a rope tied around his genitals and another rope around his neck.

"The two ropes were tied together," he said. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not or he died of suffocation or heart failure."

Over played his part in sexual gratification.

NVBighorn · Jun 5, 2009

>Police Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha told
>reporters that Carradine was found
>with a rope tied around
>his genitals and another rope
>around his neck.
>
>"The two ropes were tied together,"
>he said. "It is unclear
>whether he committed suicide or
>not or he died of
>suffocation or heart failure."
>
>

I'm pretty sure it wasn't suicide but it could have been homocide.

Roy · Jun 5, 2009

Just another reminder of the sick world in which we live!

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

scottyboy · Jun 5, 2009

Well, he was in Thailand.. Isn't that where all the degenerates of the world go to get their "kicks"? The $hit that goes on in that country is mind boggling. Germans and Swedes love it there. Child prostitution is BIG business there, as well as the whole transvistite "scene".
If he had a rope knotted around his junk, there is no way it was an intentional suicide.
Hmmmmm.. He was after all a Hollywood "star".. And we all know how weird those hollywood bastards are.. even into their crusty old age.

My guess would be he was paying some local to choke him and his chicken at the same time with a rope and his ticker happened to give out and the local got the hell out of there and left him like that...dead with a rope around his neck and around his junk.

manny15 · Jun 5, 2009

Retraded......
BANGKOK ? Mystery remained Friday over the death of American cult actor David Carradine, best known for the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" and whose naked body was found in a hotel closet in the Thai capital.

Police initially suspected suicide but now believe he may have died from accidental suffocation after finding a rope tied to his neck and genitals.

Celebrity blogs and social networking Web sites were abuzz with news of Carradine's death, which was one of the most popular topics Friday on Twitter, along with the Air France crash.

The circumstances of his death have set gossipmongers working overtime, speculating that the 72-year-old actor may have been engaged in a dangerous form of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.

The practice involves temporarily cutting off the supply of oxygen to the brain to heighten the effects of a sexual climax.

Carradine's body was discovered Thursday morning in his luxury suite by a chambermaid at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel, said its general manager, Aurelio Giraudo. Police arrived shortly thereafter.

"When I arrived, I saw the dead body with a string of rope tied around his neck, also tied around his wrist," said Police Colonel Somprasong Yenthuam, Superintendent of Lumpini Police station, which is handling the case.

Another police officer, Lt. Gen. Worapong Chewprecha told reporters that Carradine was found with a rope tied around his genitals and another rope around his neck.

"The two ropes were tied together," he said. "It is unclear whether he committed suicide or not or he died of suffocation or heart failure."

Somprasong said there was no evidence there was anyone else in the room at the time of Carradine's death.

Police completed an autopsy on Carradine on Friday. But Somprasong said results would not be ready for at least three weeks because the cause of death was unclear. He called the time lag "normal."

Carradine's body was later taken from the hospital to an undisclosed location by U.S. Embassy representatives while preparations were being made for its repatriation to the United States, expected to be in the next few days. Under U.S. privacy laws, the embassy is not allowed to release further details without permission of the family of the deceased.

Dr. Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital's Autopsy Center, told reporters that the autopsy was conducted because of the "unusual circumstances surrounding Carradine's death," but did not elaborate.

Police Lt. Teerapop Luanseng had said Thursday that Carradine's body was found "naked, hanging in a closet," and police at that time suspected suicide. However, no suicide note has been found.

Carradine's friends and associates insisted he would never kill himself.

"All we can say is, we know David would never have committed suicide," said Tiffany Smith of Binder & Associates, his management company. "We're just waiting for them to finish the investigation and find out what really happened. He really appreciated everything life has to give ... and that's not something David would ever do to himself."

Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand's Central Institute of Forensic Science, said the circumstances suggested that Carradine may have died performing auto-erotic asphyxiation, which is said to result in a form of giddiness and euphoria ? similar to alcohol or drug intoxication ? that enhances the sexual experience.

"In some cases it can suggest murder, too. But sometimes when the victim is naked and in bondage, it can suggest that the victim is doing it to himself," said Pornthip, who is considered the country's top criminal forensics expert but who did not take part in the autopsy. "If you hang yourself by the neck, you don't need so much pressure to kill yourself. Those who get highly sexually aroused tend to forget this fact."

Carradine had flown to Thailand last week and began work on a film titled "Stretch" two days before his death, Smith said. He had several other projects lined up after the action film, which was being directed by Charles de Meaux.

Carradine was in good spirits when he left the U.S. for Thailand on May 29 to work on "Stretch," his manager Smith said by phone from Beverly Hills.

Monica Donati, a spokesman for the French film company MK2, which was making "Stretch," said in statement from Paris that the film crew in Bangkok was "clearly shocked" by Carradine's death but would finish shooting. Carradine only had three more days of filming left in Bangkok, she said.

"David was apparently very happy about this new role and about filming again," she said.

Hotel manager Giraudo described Carradine as "very much a person full of life" who chatted with the staff.

"He was a great piano player and played a few nights in the hotel lobby," he said, "He also played the flute and the guests really enjoyed it. I mentioned to him that I had seen (the movie) 'Crank' with my family and that was the last smile he gave me."

D13er · Jun 5, 2009

.....gonna have to change the old wives tale from "you're gonna go blind" to "you're gonna suffocate"

great post/pic, thanks for sharing

JB

REDDOG · Jun 5, 2009

I agree with Scottyboy, i think some of the local talent was involved, not saying it was murder, rather a paid time gone bad.

I liked his father and brother as actors more than him. i dont think this was a suicide.

1911 · Jun 5, 2009

Sadly enough, auto-erotic asphyxiation is much more common a cause of death than you would think. You generally don't hear about it because it usually doesn't make it into an obit.

grizzmoose · Jun 5, 2009

Yep, I have some cop friends that say they get calls like that ALL the time. Pretty freaky stuff out there.

eelgrass · Jun 5, 2009

"Pornthip Rojanasunand, director of Thailand's Central Institute of Forensic Science, said the circumstances suggested that Carradine may have died performing auto-erotic asphyxiation, which is said to result in a form of giddiness and euphoria ? similar to alcohol or drug intoxication ? that enhances the sexual experience.

"In some cases it can suggest murder, too. But sometimes when the victim is naked and in bondage, it can suggest that the victim is doing it to himself," said Pornthip, who is considered the country's top criminal forensics expert but who did not take part in the autopsy."

Pornthrip?????? LMAO!

I had a fat girlfriend once who.........nevermind.

Eel

RACKMASTER · Jun 5, 2009

agh?

Rackmaster

bigandtasty · Jun 6, 2009

TheSwede · Jun 6, 2009

I can see it now....
1911,
Born in Anytown, USA many eons ago tragically died after a courageous battle with Auto Erotic Asphyxiation. The intricate series of ropes and knots finally took his life........

--I'm looking for a man... who calls himself Bucho! That's all! And you had to do it, the hard way!--