Hollywood Actor David Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok hotel today amid suggestions that he killed himself accidently during an attempt at auto-eroticism.
The 72-yr-old actor and lead in ‘Kill Bill’ was found dead in a hotel in Bangkok famous for its shrine dedicated to phallic power. The body of Carradine who rose to fame as ‘Grasshopper’ in the series ‘Kung Fu ‘ was found by a chambermaid.
Police in Lumpini Bangkok said Carradine’s naked body was found hanging in a closet in room 352 of the Nai Lert Park Hotel, Bangkok. ‘A rope was attached to his neck and also to his genitals,’ said an officer in the case.
The rope used was the rope to draw the rooms curtains.
Police initially said they they believed Carradine had committed suicide. There was no suicide note. But later they amended their reaction to saying: ‘It looks like suicide.’
Police estimated his time of death at between 11 pm on Wednesday and 1 am Thursday morning. When police were contacted again a police spokesman said could neither confirm or deny the suggestion that the Hollywood star may have been involved in an act of auto-eroticism.
‘We have nothing to add at this stage that apart from the fact that we do not believe anybody else was involved in his death. There is no investigation although a post mortem will be carried out.’
The BBC also reported Thai police as saying: that the 72-year-old was found by a hotel maid sitting in a wardrobe ‘with a cord around his neck and other parts of his body’.
His manager Chuck Bender described the news as shocking: ‘He was always full of life, always wanting to work- a great person.’
Carradine in Thailand to film a movie called ‘Stretch’ had failed to attend a dinner the night before with members of the production crew.
The Nail Lert Park hotel, next to the British Embassy in Bangkok is famous for its penis shrine, a tribute to penis power. The shrine is associated with fertility and visitors make offerings to the female Spirit of Tubtim who hovers around a nearby canal.
The offerings come in the form of phalluses in all shapes and sizes.
In November 1997 INXS star Michael Hutchence was found dead in a hotel in Sydney. The coroner returned a verdict of suicide, but because of the lack of suicide note or history of depression he was widely believed, even by members of his own family, to have died attempting an act of autoerotic asphyxiation.
Reason for edit: Punctuation error noted by Bob Smith
