David Carradine
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine, December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor, best known for his work in the 1970s television series Kung Fu and more recently in the movie Kill Bill. He appeared in more than 100 feature films.
Career
Carradine was known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s television series Kung Fu; he starred in the 1990s spinoff Kung Fu: The Legend Continues as the grandson of his original character. In movies, he starred as '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, Vols. 1 & 2 (2003, 2004, respectively).
Other notable roles included 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. He also starred in the Broadway version of the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun in 1965. More recently, he portrayed Tempus, a powerful demon with the ability to manipulate time, on the popular television series Charmed, as well as Conrad in the television series Alias. Carradine twice played a supernatural being with the power to control time: "Tempus" on Charmed and "Clockwork" on Danny Phantom.
Carradine appeared in an episode of Lizzie McGuire, and also provided his voice for the King of the Hill episode, Returning Japanese, in which he voiced the character of Hank's Japanese half-brother. He provided the voice for Lo Pei, the ancient warrior who was responsible for Shendu's petrification in the animated series Jackie Chan Adventures.
Carradine produced and starred in several exercise videos teaching the martial arts of Tai chi and Qi Gong. 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 became an avid practitioner.
Carradine appeared as the host of Wild West Tech on the History Channel, taking over the duties from his brother Keith. He narrated the PBS anthropology series "Faces of Culture". In 2006, he became the spokesman for Yellowbook, a publisher of independent telephone directories in the United States. He was also the TV spokesperson for Lipton ("This ain't no sippin' tea"), in a memorable commercial where he paid homage not only to Kung Fu, but also to the Three Stooges.
Carradine also appeared in the music video for "Minus You" by the southern California band Chapel of Thieves, which was co-directed by the YouTube personality Boh3m3. He also worked with the Jonas Brothers in their video Burnin' Up, playing a Kung Fu Master, and planned to work with Miley Cyrus. In 2009, he played a 100 year-old Chinese gangster in Crank: High Voltage.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Taggart | Cal Dodge | |
1966 | Shane | Shane | Television |
1967 | Johnny Belinda | Locky | Television |
The Violent Ones | Lucas Barnes | ||
1972 | Boxcar Bertha | 'Big' Bill Shelly | |
1972-1975 | Kung Fu | Kwai Chang Caine | Television |
1973 | Mean Streets | Drunk | |
1975 | Death Race 2000 | Frankenstein | |
1976 | Cannonball | Coy 'Cannonball' Buckman | |
Bound for Glory | Woody Guthrie | ||
1977 | The Serpent's Egg | Abel Rosenberg | |
1978 | Circle of Iron | The Blind Man/Monkeyman/Death/Changsha | |
Gray Lady Down | Capt. Gates | ||
1979 | Mr. Horn | Tom Horn | Television |
1980 | Cloud Dancer | Brad Randolph | |
The Long Riders | Cole Younger | ||
1982 | Q | Detective Shepard | |
1983 | Americana | The American Soldier | |
Lone Wolf McQuade | Rawley Wilkes | ||
1984 | The Warrior and the Sorceress | Kain | |
1985 | North and South | Justin LaMotte | Television |
1986 | Behind Enemy Lines | Col.James Cooper | |
Kung Fu:The Movie | Kwai Chang Caine | Television | |
1987 | Six against the Rock | Bernard 'Bernie' Paul Coy | Television |
1990 | Bird on a Wire | Sorenson | |
1991 | Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat | Jozek Mardulak/Count Dracula | |
Karate Cop | \"Dad\" | ||
1992 | Animal Instincts | William Lamberti | |
1992 | Roadside Prophets | Othello | |
1993-1997 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Kwai Chang Caine | Television |
1998 | An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island | Cheif Wulisso | |
1999 | Charmed | Tempus | Television |
2001 | Lizzie McGuire | Himself | Television |
Alias | Conrad | Television | |
2002 | King of the Hill | Junichiro Hill | Television
"The Outsider" Haines Television |
2003 | Wild West Tech | Host (Starting in 2004) | Television |
American Reel | James Springer | ||
Kill Bill: Vol. I | Bill | ||
2004 | Kill Bill: Vol. II | Bill | |
2005 | Brothers in Arms | Driscoll | |
Miracle at Sage Creek | Ike | ||
Danny Phantom | Clockwork | Television | |
2006 | Medium | Jessica's Brother | Television |
Final Move | Captain Baker | ||
Saints Row | William Sharp (voice) | ||
The Last Sect | Van Helsing | ||
2007 | Epic Movie | The Curator | |
Fall Down Dead | Wade | ||
Homo Erectus | Mookoo | ||
Permanent Vacation | Old Man | ||
Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter | Mikhail | ||
FUEGO | Lobo | ||
Big Stan | TBA | ||
How to Rob a Bank | Nick | ||
The Trident | The Shopkeeper | ||
Treasure Raiders | Pierre | ||
Camille | Cowboy Bob | ||
2008 | Chatham | Captain Zeb | |
Last Hour | Detective Mike Stone | ||
Hell Ride | TBA | ||
Richard III | Buckingham | ||
Break | The Bishop | ||
Money to Burn | Klau | ||
Untitled David Lee Miller Project | Vargas | ||
Kandisha | The American | ||
Night of the Templar | Shopkeeper | ||
Autumn | Philip | ||
Burnin' up clip (Jonas Brothers) | Himself |