| Artist, musician, sculptor, writer, composer, Kung-Fu master, film and television icon David Carradine returns to the motion picture screen in what could be his most exciting role to date, playing the title role in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Carradine is the eldest son of the legendary character actor John Carradine, and now presides over an acting family that includes brothers Keith, Robert, and Michael as well as his daughter Kansas and nieces Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton.He was born in Hollywood and educated at San Francisco State College where he studied music theory and composition.It was while writing music for the Drama Department's annual revues that he discovered his own passion for the stage, joining a Shakespearian repertory company and learning his craft on his feet.
After a two-year stint in the Army, he found work in New York as a commercial artist and later found fame on Broadway in The Deputy and The Royal Hunt of The Sun, playing an Aztec prince opposite Christopher Plummer's Spanish conquistador.With that experience he returned to Hollywood, landing the short-lived TV series Shane before being tapped to star opposite Barbara Hershey in MartinScorsese's first Hollywood film, Boxcar Bertha (1972).
The iconic TV series Kung Fu followed. Originally developed by and for Bruce Lee, it catapulted Carradine to superstardom for the next three years, until he left the series to pursue his film career.
Carradine received the Best Actor Award from the National Board of Film Review as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Woody Guthrie in Hal Ashby's Bound for Glory, (1976) and won critical acclaim for his work as Cole Younger in Walter Hill's The Long Riders, (1980) which many believe is his best work to date.Kung Fu also received seven Emmy nominations in its first season including one for Carradine as Best Actor. In addition he won the People's Prize at the Cannes Film Festival's Director's Fortnight for his work on Americana, and a second Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role in North and South.
Among his other most notable film credits are You and Me (1972), Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973), Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973), Paul Bartel's Death Race 2000 (1975), Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977), Gray Lady Down (1978), and Bird on a Wire (1990). Carradine has also continued his devotion to music, and has recorded some 60 tracks in various musical genres and sung in several movies. He makes his home in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Annie, her four children and their three dogs.
| |
