I learned today of David Carradine's death. From early reports, it looks like it was suicide. Carradine was not the greatest actor, but he was one that I liked.
In a recent post I wrote about Hamlet's soliloquey "To be or not to be." If Carradine's death was by his own hands, then I guess he answered so many of the questions Hamlet pondered. He knows the undiscovered country.
"But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will..."
Here are a few quotes from an interview with Carradine in 2004.
I hope he is regenerating."You're probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions," Carradine said. "Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.
"It's time to do nothing but look forward."
In my mind, his best work was this scene from Kill Bill 2. If you haven't noticed, my blog profile pic has always been a photo from this scene.
If you have not seen the movie, Uma's character (Beatrix Kiddo) was an assasin working for and the lover of David's character (Bill). She discovers she is pregnant with Bill's daughter and goes into hiding. This is the scene of her wedding rehearsal and where Bill finds her.
The cinematography is beautiful. Uma and David's chemistry are perfect.
One of my favorites, and for a very long time. I thought he was perfect in Kill Bill. He reminds me of another hero of mine named David Foster Wallace. Two thinkers who hung themselves. I cannot imagine the courage or desperation it would entail to kill one's self. One of the major acts that not only interests me, but causes great angst.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the clip from "Kill Bill," especially watching the CUs of Carradine's face. He had the perfect face for cinema - craggy, full of character - and perfect timing. Like Clint Eastwood, Carradine was an actor in control of his art and craft.
ReplyDeleteApparently, he wanted to be in control of his death, too. As I just said in a post, mortality is natural, it is the right and inevitable ending. I don't know how suicide fits into that though. It depends upon your philosophical/religious beliefs, I guess. For Carradine, it depended on his belief in one moment in time.
Wow! I just read in the paper how Carradine was found...and how he probably died. Methinks this was not a suicide.
ReplyDeleteDr. L. From what it sounds like, it sounds a bit more... tawdry (assuming it was auto-erotic asphyxiation)? If he did die that way, I feel sad for his family since their will be jokes forever about it. I look at it another way. I will be happy if I hit 72 and have that wild and kinky of a life style.
ReplyDeleteThat was my first response, too - hey, he wasn't dead yet!!!
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