David Carradine

David Carradine (December 8, 1936 - June 3, 2009) was an accomplished actor and martial artist. He was the eldest son of the acclaimed actor John Carradine. David Carradine is the father of actor Calista Carradine.

David Carradine became famous for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu, a role which he later reprised in the 1986 TV movie and the 1993 spin-off series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.... He had a brief career resurgence later in his life after co-starring in director Quentin Tarantino's films Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. He also appeared in several projects that were released after his death.

Mr. Carradine's death was the result of autoerotic asphyxiation, and has subsequently become a frequently-used comedic reference (for example, in the RiffTrax of Batman's Last Chance when Kevin riffs "Can't a butler pull a Carradine in the broom closet in peace?").

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David Carradine co-starred in the 1978 science-fiction film Deathsport, which was identified as one of the films planned to be used in the potential Season 14 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. That crowd-funding effort was not successful, and it remains to be seen if Deathsport will be used on MST3K in the future.