THE FILM EXAMINER
David Carradine
Hollywood Faces Dossier 50 Archival Vault Holdings 📍 Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

David Carradine

1936 – 2009

David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series Kung Fu, playing Kwai Chang Caine, a peace-loving Shaolin monk travelling through the American Old West. He also portrayed the title character of both of the Kill Bill films. He appeared in two Martin Scorsese films: Boxcar Bertha and Mean Streets. David Carradine was a member of the Carradine family of actors that began with his father, John Carradine. The elder Carradine's acting career, which included major and minor roles on stage, television, and in cinema, spanned more than four decades. A prolific "B" movie actor, David Carradine appeared in more than 100 feature films in a career spanning more than six decades. He received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his work on Kung Fu, and received three additional Golden Globe nominations for his performances in the Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory (1976), the television miniseries North and South (1985), and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2, for which he won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. Throughout his life, Carradine was arrested and prosecuted for a variety of offenses, which often involved substance abuse. Films that featured Carradine continued to be released after his death. These posthumous credits were from a variety of genres including action, documentaries, drama, horror, martial arts, science fiction, and westerns. In addition to his acting career, Carradine was a director and musician. Moreover, influenced by his Kung Fu role, he studied martial arts. On April 1, 1997, Carradine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Description above from the Wikipedia article David Carradine, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Mike Jones's Video Boneyard archive currently preserves 50 physical recordings spanning 3 productions featuring David Carradine.

Archival Holdings in The Video Boneyard

The following 3 canonical motion pictures and broadcast master recordings featuring David Carradine are preserved in the studio archives:

Year Production Title Character / Role Director / Studio The Video Boneyard Status
1971 Night Gallery: S02E05 - The Phantom Farmhouse / Silent Snow, Secret Snow Gideon Unknown / Archive Vault Archive Master Archival Master
1972 Kung Fu 48 Copies Kwai Chang Caine Unknown / Archive Vault Archive Master Archival Master
2008 Kung Fu Killer Leading Role Unknown / Archive Vault Archive Master Archival Master

Complete Career & Landmark Filmography

Major theatrical features, landmark television appearances, and key credited roles across David Carradine's historic screen career:

Year Production Title Character / Role Department / Format
1944 Golden Globe Awards Self - Nominee Actor (Television)
1955 Gunsmoke Clint Actor (Television)
1956 Tony Awards Self - Presenter Actor (Television)
1961 The Mike Douglas Show Self Actor (Television)
1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Edward Clarke Actor (Television)
1962 The Merv Griffin Show Self Actor (Television)
1962 The Virginian The Utah Kid Actor (Television)
1963 Arrest and Trial Wally Carpen Actor (Television)
1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Fitzhugh Actor (Television)
1965 Bus Riley's Back in Town Stretch Actor (Feature Film)
1965 Taggart Cal Dodge Actor (Feature Film)
1966 Shane Shane Actor (Television)
1966 Too Many Thieves Felix Actor (Feature Film)
1967 Cimarron Strip Gene Gauge Actor (Television)
1967 Ironside Pogo Weems Actor (Television)
1967 Johnny Belinda Locky Actor (Feature Film)
1967 The Hunted Gene Gauge Actor (Feature Film)
1967 The Violent Ones Lucas Barnes Actor (Feature Film)
1968 The Dick Cavett Show Self - Guest Actor (Television)
1968 The Name of the Game Jason Blake Actor (Television)
1969 Heaven with a Gun Coke Beck Actor (Feature Film)
1969 The Good Guys and the Bad Guys Waco Actor (Feature Film)
1969 Young Billy Young Jesse Boone Actor (Feature Film)
1970 Night Gallery Gideon Actor (Television)
1970 The McMasters White Feather Actor (Feature Film)
1971 Macho Callahan David Mountford Actor (Feature Film)
1971 Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring Flack Actor (Feature Film)
1972 Boxcar Bertha Big Bill Shelly Actor (Feature Film)
1972 Kung Fu Kwai Chang Caine Actor (Television)
1972 Kung Fu Director Director (Television)
1972 Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon Kwai Chang Caine Actor (Feature Film)
1973 Mean Streets Drunk Actor (Feature Film)
1973 The Long Goodbye Dave aka Socrates (uncredited) Actor (Feature Film)
1975 Death Race 2000 Frankenstein Actor (Feature Film)
1975 Les Rendez-vous du dimanche Self Actor (Television)
1975 Long Way Home Craw Dantley Actor (Feature Film)
1975 Midi Première Self Actor (Television)
1975 Saturday Night Live Self - Host Actor (Television)
1975 The Family Holvak Craw Actor (Television)
1975 You and Me Zeto Actor (Feature Film)