13 thoughts on “David Carradine, 1936-2009”

  1. FYI: Your link on the left hand side of the blogroll goes to loadedorygun.com (parked domain) instead the real blog located at loadedorygun.net.

  2. maha
    Yeah, I loved him too. His show helped bring Buddhist philosopy to America, and many of us loved it and brought it into our lives.
    I just hope it wasn’t suicide.

  3. I just hope it wasn’t suicide.

    Not to be gross or try to mine humor from this sad event, but the alternative (considering how he was found) would be worse. As Clyde Bruckman (Peter Boyle) once said very pointedly to Fox Mulder, “You know, there are a lot of terrible ways to die, but I think one of the worst would have to be autoerotic asphyxiation.”

    Enough of that. I’m stunned to see that Mr. Carradine was 73 years old. I never would’ve guessed!

    Very sad for his family, most of whom I grew up with on television or in the movies.

  4. In regards to suicide, I’m going to be a devil’s advocate…

    I don’t wish suicide on anyone, but I respect an individual’s right to end his/her life this way. For someone who is terminally ill or in great pain, suicide makes perfect sense, and is not a sign of “mental illness” as some would have us think. Of course, it’s more controversial if someone commits suicide because of financial or marital troubles.

    Even more controversial is the issue of assisted suicide. In the USA, this is very illegal, and prosecutors have attempted to entrap members of the Hemlock Society, who have campaigned for right-to-die laws.

    I know this is getting off-topic, since the subject is David Carradine’s death. I just want to point out that if David did indeed take his own life, I fully respect that, and it doesn’t diminish my opinion of him in any way. Just as I am pro-choice when it comes to the issue of abortion, I’m pro-choice when it comes to the decision to end one’s life. Should I ever decide that suicide is right for me, I wouldn’t want the government stepping in to interfere, or even worse, prosecute anyone who assisted me.

  7. When I first heard about David Carradine, autoerotic asphyxiation was my first thought.

    Another person who probably died this way is Vaughn Bode, who originated Cheech Wizard. The official website says he died on July 18, 1975 in San Francisco in a mystic experiment gone wrong. I have friends who say he was experimenting with autoerotic asphyxiation.

  8. ozonehole,
    I agree with you about suicide. I guess it was selfish, not wanting a childhood ‘hero’ to end this way.
    Joan, you’re right. The alternative is worse…

  9. I remember being a child and hearing that someone who had attempted suicide was being charged with a crime. I remember thinking even then, WTF? What business is it of the cops?

    It does get more complicated when someone is suffering from depression, which usually goes away eventually, for one reason or another. With depression, the desire to end one’s life comes from the disease, not from a clear and certain mind. But I do agree, the stigma (and law, wherever it still exists) is ridiculous.

  10. Regarding a right to suicide — that’s not an issue to me, one way or another. Not everything is a matter of “rights.” That someone who was not suffering an incurable and painful illness would commit suicide (although it appears Carradine’s death was an accident) is just plain sad and tragic. I also feel great sorrow thinking of the anguish a person must be in to want to kill himself.

  11. After seeing my Dad as he lay dying, use his throat muscles to get air into his lungs since his diaphram stopped functioning. I am sure it is rough on his family, but it sounds like it was quick and certainly not the worst way to go.

    It sounds like he had a number of projects lined up so I don’t think he planned it.

  12. Not the first tortured artist to go that way, the great tragedy of my generation may have been the loss of Kevin Gilbert, who deserved much more credit in life than he received, and despaired.

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