David Carradine, the star of "Kill Bill" and the man behind the legendary 1970s TV series "Kung Fu," has died at age 72.
Carradine was reportedly found dead in his hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand, either late Wednesday or early Thursday morning. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death to The Associated Press but would provide no further details out of respect for Carradine's family.
Citing unidentified police sources, the Thai English-language newspaper The Nation has reported that Carradine was found hanged in a luxury hotel room and died as a result of suicide, though other sources say he died of natural causes.
Carradine was staying in Bangkok while filming a movie, according to Fox News. The film's crew noticed his absence when they went out to a restaurant. A producer went to Carradine's room and discovered the actor had died.
Carradine appeared in the late '60s Western series "Shane" and went on to portray Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine in "Kung Fu" from 1972 to 1975, a role he reprised in a TV-movie and a '90s TV series. Carradine appeared in over 100 feature films, but perhaps his most well-known recent movie was as Bill in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films. MTV News spoke with Carradine in February, and the actor talked hopefully about returning to work with Tarantino on another "Bill" installment.
"[Tarantino] planned an anime version of the life of Bill before the movie — which would have to be anime because I'm not getting any younger," Carradine said.
