David Carradine (born December 8, 1936) is an American actor.
Carradine was born John Arthur Carradine in Hollywood, California, the son of Ardanelle Abigail and noted American actor John Carradine. He is the brother of Bruce Carradine and half-brother of Keith and Robert Carradine, as well as the uncle of Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton. Carradine has Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee ancestry.
Carradine studied drama at San Francisco State University before working as an actor on stage as well as in television and cinema. He changed his given name to David after starting his career.
Carradine is known for his roles as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s television series Kung Fu (as well as the sequels in the 1980s and 1990s), as well as 'Big' Bill Shelly in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha (1972), folksinger Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory (1976), Abel Rosenberg in Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977), and as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vols. 1 & 2 (2003,2004, respectively). Carradine has also provided his voice for the King of the Hill episode, Returning Japanese where he voiced the character of Hank's Japanese half-brother, Junichiro, who lives in Japan. He provided the voice for Lo Pei, the ancient warrior who was responsible for Shendu's petrification in the animated series: Jackie Chan Adventures.
He is also known for producing and starring in several exercise videos teaching the martial arts of Tai chi and Qi Gong. Carradine actually had no knowledge of martial arts prior to starring in the series Kung Fu, but developed an interest in it after this experience and has since become an avid practitioner. Carradine has been the TV spokesperson for Lipton ("This ain't no sippin' tea"), in a memorable commercial where he pays homage not only to Kung Fu, but also to the Three Stooges. Carradine also appears in the music video for "Minus You" by the southern California band Chapel of Thieves, which was co-directed by the YouTube personality Boh3m3. He is still widely recognized as his Kung Fu character, "Grasshopper"...a nickname to which he answers proudly. Carradine also worked with the Jonas Brothers in their video Burnin' Up, playing a Kung Fu Master.
On December 24, 2004, he married his present wife, Annie, at the seaside Malibu home of his friend, Michael Madsen. The ceremony was performed by his attorney and his wife's long time friend, Vicki Roberts.