The Rim Of Hell

I try to only talk about famous celebrity deaths if they’ve affected me personally. . . y’know, relating my story in the context that it’s not available anywhere else. Such is the case with David  Carradine.

At Mid-ohio.con, David was there for a q/a and some signings to promote his appearance in Tarentino’s ‘Kill Bill Vol. 2″. Well the wife and I were big fans of Kung Fu so of course we attended.  We found Mr. Carradine to be soft spoken, calm yet very confident; not egotistical mind you but possessing the assuredness that comes from knowing who you truly are, and being ok with it.

David was the kind of celebrity gem you hoped to find at a con.  Easily relating stories that were amusing, thoughtful and made you wish you could have a beer or two with the guy just to hear more.  The turquoise ring he always wears but he”d forgotten where he picked it up from, for example.  Priceless stuff if you heard it.  And a hilarious Quentin Tarentino impersonation too.

When the time to ask questions came, I raised my hand and not wanting to label Mr. Carradine as only having been in Kung Fu, I inquired if he was often challenged to fight in real-life since he’d played a lot of “tough guys”.  The choice of words ‘tough guy’, well it was perhaps not my best option.  I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous.  The wife is now glaring at me with a “Good job, you just pissed him off”.

So yeah, David politely rebuked my ill choice of words by saying (and I’m paraphrasing ’cause the whole thing is a bit dream-like now) that he didn’t consider himself a tough guy but  “merely lethal”,  and then he winked at me.  Possibly the coolest fucking response ever, don’t ya’ think?

Then to answer my question, he went on to admit that he’d actually had to physically throwdown about 3 times in his life as a result of some of the characters he portrayed.   I left the session a fan ever more.

To hear of his passing today, well – it broke my heart.  I’d really hoped to someday, somehow have that beer with him.  Ok, and apologize for labeling him nothing more than a ‘tough guy’.  David Carradine was much much more than that, and sadly – now I’ll never really know.

David, thank you for your art, your passion and your timeless portrayals.  You will be missed.