Thai authorities conducting autopsy on David Carradine, found dead in Bangkok hotel

Thai authorities order autopsy on David Carradine

BANGKOK — Thai authorities conducted an autopsy Friday on actor David Carradine, a cult star best known for the 1970s TV series “Kung Fu,” and cited “unusual circumstances” in his death. His naked body was found hanging in a Bangkok hotel room.

Police said the 72-year-old actor’s body was discovered Thursday in the closet of his hotel room at the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Police were investigating and suspected suicide, though one of Carradine’s managers questioned that theory.

“All we can say is, we know David would never have committed suicide,” said Tiffany Smith, of Binder & Associates, his management company. “We’re just waiting for them to finish the investigation and find out what really happened. He really appreciated everything life has to give … and that’s not something David would ever do to himself.”

Dr. Nanthana Sirisap, director of Chulalongkorn Hospital’s Autopsy Center, told reporters that the autopsy was being conducted because of “unusual circumstances surrounding Carradine’s death.” He did not elaborate on the circumstances, and could not say when results would be released.

“I can confirm that we found his body, naked, hanging in the closet,” police Lt. Teerapop Luanseng said on Thursday, adding that police suspected suicide.

Carradine had flown to Thailand last week and began work on “Stretch” two days before his death, Smith said. He had several other projects lined up after the action film, which was being directed by Charles De Meaux.

Carradine was “in good spirits” when he left the U.S. for Thailand on May 29 to work on “Stretch,” Smith said.

“David was excited to do it and excited to be a part of it,” she said by phone from Beverly Hills.

Filming began Tuesday, she said, adding that the crew was devastated by Carradine’s death and did not wish to speak publicly about it for the time being.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid Thursday morning. It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a curtain cord and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

Carradine appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby.

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s two-part saga “Kill Bill.” Bill, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003’s “Kill Bill — Vol. 1.” In that film, one of Bill’s former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates, including Bill.