As a young child I was obsessed with Kung Fu reruns so I logged a lot of hours with Carradine well before I knew enough to be offended by the implications of the odd but then common Hollywood practice of casting white people in ethnic roles. Carradine was recently quite good in Kill Bill Vol. 2 (I wanted him to get an Oscar nomination) The role was originally offered to Warren Beatty but some reports claim it was always written for Carradine. I've never quite believed that given that Tarantino can get any actor to work with him so why not offer it to the one you wrote it for first? But, regardless of the truth (which we'll likely never know the entirety of), the role fit Carradine like a glove.
The actor had never stopped working between Kung Fu and Kill Bill but he just hadn't always been as high profile despite the occasional Golden Globe nomination (four in total). He never stopped working after Bill's mini-renaissance of interest in his career either... until now.
Rest in peace, Grasshopper.
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