David Carradine, 1936-2009 (Updated)
Goddammit. Just minutes after I posted my David Eddings article, came the sad news that actor David Carradine has died at the age of 73 in Bangkok, Thailand. Carradine was the eldest son of Hollywood legend John Carradine, and starred in so many TV shows and movies, most notably Caine in Kung Fu and Frankenstein in the original Death Race 2000 for us nerds. But he was best cast as Bill in Kill Bill, the role he was born to play (Tarantino’s first choice of Warren Beatty be damned). Here’s hoping he went out in a kung fu fight or surrounded by Thai prostitutes — he deserved to go out with a bang.
Update: Now word is that he hung himself. That’s… that’s not what I meant by bang. Ugh.
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.