Carradine Found Hanged in Thai

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BANGKOK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Aktor David Carradine, bintang pertunjukan “Kung Fu” Amerika tahun 1970-an, ditemukan telanjang dan tewas tergantung dengan seutas tali di toilet di kamar mewahnya di Hotel Bangkok hari kamis (5 Juni 2009, penj.), ujar Polisi Thailand.

Tidak ditemukan tanda-tanda adanya orang lain di kamar tersebut dan mayat aktor berumur 72 tahun itupun kemudian dikirim ke sebuah rumah sakit untuk di-otopsi, kata polisi. Hasil otopsi diperkirakan keluar hari Jum’at (6 Juni 2009, penj.).

“Dia ditemukan tergantung dengan seutas tali di toilet kamarnya,” Letnan Kolonel Pirom Jantrapirom dari Kepolisian Lumpini di Bangkok mengatakan kepada Reuters.

Carradine, berasal dari keluarga pemain sandiwara dan merupakan anak tertua dari aktor watak John Carradine, memiliki karir yang panjang di dunia siaran, televisi, dan film seperti menjadi Sutradara di film Quentin Tarantino “Kill Bill: Vol. 1 dan “Kill Bill: Vol. 2.

Perwakilan Manager di Los Angeles mengatakan bahwa sang aktor berada di Thailand untuk membuat film yang berjudul “Stretch,” dan sementara beberapa media berspekulasi bahwa kematiannya mungkin akibat bunuh diri, seorang juru bicara mengatakan baik mereka maupun keluarganya tidak percaya Carradine mampu membunuh dirinya sendiri.

Keluarganya amat terguncang,” kata Tiffany Smith dari management perusahaan Carradine, Binder & Associates. “Mereka juga sama-sama percaya akan hal itu seperti kami. Tidak mungkin David bunuh diri.

Smith menyatakan sedang menunggu berita selanjutnya dari laporan polisi.

Dalam otobiografinya tahun 1995 “Endless Highway,” Carradine menulis bahwa dia pernah mencoba bunuh diri saat berumur 5 tahun.

Buku tersebut juga menggambarkan dia menggunakan obat, dari LSD hingga kokain, dan diakhiri dengan sebuah catatan usahanya di pertengahan 1990-an untuk hidup sehat dengan mengikuti kelompok pendukung alkoholik.

FANS BERAT

Belasungkawa datang dari selebritis Hollywood dan para penggemarnya memberikan komentarnya di website, www.david-carradine.com.

Martin Scorsese, yang menyutradarai Carradine di film tahun 1972 “Boxcar Bertha,” menyebut Carradine “seorang kolaborator ulung, aktor berbakat yang unik, dan mempunyai semangat luar biasa.”

Seorang poster (orang yang memberi komentar di website, penj.) pada website Carradine menulis, “Betapa menyedihkannya hari ini bagi mereka semua yang tumbuh dengan menonton film David Carradine.” Yang lainnya berkata RIP Grasshopper (Rest in Peace Grasshoper, penj.) – panggilan karakter “Kung Fu” Kwai Chang Caine, Rahib Pengembara di Barat Lama Amerika yang menjadi tokoh ikon pada TV Amerika di tahun 1970-an.

Aktor yang terlahir dengan nama John Arthur Carradine pada 8 Desember 1936, di Los Angeles dan sekolah di Universitas Negara Bagian San Francisco, tempat di mana dia belajar teori musik dan komposisi.

Saat menulis musik untuk sandiwara modern tahunan bagian drama, dia menemukan kegemarannya untuk pementasan, bergabung dengan perkumpulan sandiwara Shakespeare.

Setelah bekerja pada siaran “The Deputy” dan “The Royal Hunt of the Sun” berhadapan dengan Christopher Plummer, Carradine menyiarkan acara di peta Hollywood di tahun 1960-an di TV Barat seperti “Wagon Train” dan The Virginian” juga membintangi perannya dalam versi TV film barat-nya yang sukses “Shane.”

Tetapi perannya-lah dalam “Kung Fu” yang membuat popularitasnya semakin besar. Serial tersebut mengudara pada TV Amerika mulai tahun 1972 dan tiba-tiba mendapatkan fans beratnya melalui peran Caine, yaitu dari kalangan ahli bela diri di sebagian Asia dan pelajar hidupnya.

Serial tersebut menelurkan sebuah film dan bagian lainnya yang banyak. Secara keseluruhan, penghargaan bagi Carradine masuk lebih dari 200 perannya dal m film, TV, Video dan DVD menjangkau hampir lima decade.

Perannya sebagai Caine membuatnya memperoleh nominasi Emmy, penghargaan tertinggi TV Amerika, dan perannya sebagai Bill yang kejam dalam “Kill Bill: Vol. 2” membuatnya memenangkan nominasi Golden Globe yang keempat. Dia juga mendapat sambutan kritis untuk penyanyi lagu rakyat yang dibawakannya Woody Guthrie dalam film nominasi Oscar tahun 1976 “Bound for Glory.”

Carradine menikah lima kali dan memiliki dua anak perempuan dari pernikahan-pernikahan sebelumnya. Istri terakhirnya Annie Bierman, dinikahinya tahun 2004. saudaranya-saudaranya, yang juga menjadi aktor seperti Keith Carradine.

"Kung Fu" actor Carradine found hanged in Thai hotel (Reuters)

BANGKOK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s U.S. television show "Kung Fu," was found naked and hanging dead from a rope in the closet of his luxury Bangkok hotel room Thursday, Thai police said.

No signs were found of other people in the room and the body of the 72-year-old actor was sent to a hospital for an autopsy, police said. Results are expected on Friday.

"He was found hanging by a rope in the room's closet," Lieutenant Colonel Pirom Jantrapirom of the Lumpini police station in Bangkok told Reuters.

Carradine, from a family of performers and the eldest son of character actor John Carradine, enjoyed a long career on Broadway, television and in movies such as director Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1" and Kill Bill: Vol. 2.

Representatives for his Los Angeles-based talent manager said the actor was in Thailand to shoot a film called "Stretch," and while several media reports speculated his death may have been a suicide, a spokeswoman said neither they nor his family believed Carradine was capable of killing himself.

"His family is in shock," said Tiffany Smith of Carradine's management firm, Binder & Associates. "They have the same belief we have. There was no way David did this to himself."

Smith declined further comment pending the police report.

In his 1995 autobiography "Endless Highway," Carradine wrote that he tried to kill himself when he was 5 years-old.

The book also described his extensive drug use, ranging from LSD to cocaine, and ended with a chronicle of his efforts in the mid-1990s to get sober by attending a support group for alcoholics.

FAN ANGUISH

Condolences came pouring in from Hollywood celebrities and fans posting comments on his website, www.david-carradine.com.

Martin Scorsese, who directed Carradine in 1972's "Boxcar Bertha," called Carradine "a great collaborator, a uniquely talented actor, and a wonderful spirit."

One poster on Carradine's website wrote, "What a sad day it is for all who grew up watching David Carradine." Another said "RIP Grasshopper" -- the nickname of his "Kung Fu" character Kwai Chang Caine, a wandering monk in America's Old West who became an iconic figure of U.S. TV in the 1970s.

The actor was born John Arthur Carradine on December 8, 1936, in Los Angeles and was educated at San Francisco State University, where he studied music theory and composition.

While writing music for the drama department's annual revues, he discovered his own passion for the stage, joining a Shakespearean repertory company.

After working on Broadway in "The Deputy" and "The Royal Hunt of the Sun" opposite Christopher Plummer, Carradine earned a spot on Hollywood's map in the 1960s in TV westerns such as "Wagon Train" and "The Virginian" as well as his starring role in a TV version of the hit western movie "Shane."

But it was his role in "Kung Fu" that earned the actor his greatest fame. The series aired on U.S. television starting in 1972 and immediately won a large fan base for Carradine as Caine, a half-Asian martial arts expert and student of life.

The show spawned a movie and numerous other offshoots. Overall, Carradine's credits include more than 200 roles in movies, TV, video and DVD spanning nearly five decades.

His role as Caine earned him a nomination for an Emmy, U.S. TV's highest honor, and his turn as the villainous Bill in "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" led to his fourth Golden Globe nomination. He also won critical acclaim for portraying folk singer Woody Guthrie in the Oscar-nominated 1976 film "Bound for Glory."

Carradine was married five times and had two daughters from previous marriages. His latest wife was Annie Bierman, whom he married in 2004. His brothers include actor Keith Carradine.

(Additional reporting by Laura Isensee and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Todd Eastham)

Source:
“Kung Fu” Actor Carradine found hanged in Thai Hotel (Reuters),
http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.reuters.com/quotkung-fuquot-actor-carradine-found-hanged-thai-hotel-reuters,
Accessed on Friday, June 5, 2009 11:06am,
Translated by Saif Ali.