Actor David Carradine Found Dead

As a child of the 70s and 80s, one of my favorite shows was KUNG FU. The series was set in the Old West of the 1800s and Carradine played Kwai Chang Caine, an orphan who was raised in a Shaolin monastery to be a master.

He traveled the landscape looking for his brother and always managed to get into a good old fashioned martial arts fight.

But it wasn’t just the fights that caught my attention.  It was the mysticism and wisdom surrounding the teachings of Caine by his elders, always shown in flashbacks.

He also starred in over 100 films, but it’s that 70s television show I will always most fondly remember him for.

I was sad to see the news this morning that David Carradine was found dead, apparently from hanging, in his Bangkok hotel. He was staying there during the filming of a new movie. The death is presumed a suicide, but it is “under investigation” according to his manager Chuck Binder.

The 72-year-old Carradine is survived by his wife and three children.

My heart and prayers go out to them at this trying time.

I would like to close with a quote from KUNG FU. His teacher and mentor, Master Po, instructs Caine with the following:

“Do not go with fear, Grasshopper; fear is eternal darkness. Go instead with inner strength, for it is like a deep river into which all streams flow. It increases, always moving forward. And soon, there is nothing that can stand in its way.”

Rest in peace.