David Carradine -- RIP

Sad news out of Bangkok, David Carradine (photo courtesy of Tony Metaxas) has died in an apparent suicide. He was 72.

He was in Bangkok shooting his latest film. Most of us will remember him as the wandering Shaolin Master in Kung Fu or as the title character in Kill Bill.

May he rest in peace.

Postscript...

It is being reported that this may not have been a suicide but rather an accident. There are suggestions that this was an auto-eroticism attempt gone wrong. Michael Hutchence was another high profile auto-eroticism victim.

Postscript II...

I have recently read that Carradine's management has raised the possibility that this was a murder. There is gossip floating around that, besides the rope around his neck that was also looped around his genitals, his hands were tied behind his back.

I guess I will just keep following the news and keep adding postscripts.

Postscript III

Here is a link to Thairath, a Thai daily (or here, or here). They have published a photo of the scene, Carradine included, which the police say looks like one of the forensic photos. The Carradine family has demanded that all publication of the image be prohibited. They have also asked for an independent autopsy, and for the FBI to become involved with respect to investigating this as a possible murder.

Postscript IV

It seems that some members of the Carradine family believe that the actor was murdered, or assassinated, by a secret Kung Fu sect that he was about to expose. I am all for a good conspiracy and this has the hallmarks of a good one. Interestingly, there are those that believe that one of the greatest proponents of martial artist to ever grace the silver screen, Bruce Lee, was also murdered / assassinated by a not so secret society known as the triads.

Despite the claims, the Thai police are still sticking to the theory that this was a sex game gone wrong. This would seem to fit into the scenario being put forward that Carradine had a history of "deviant" sexual behaviour.