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Kung Fu,
which reran last on Channel 1, during the program
“Saturday Is For You,” has been a great success for
David Carradine, but we had already seen these episodes
before. Before rediscovering our famous shaven-headed
hero in 13 new episodes next January (presumably), we
followed him from California to the Cannes Film
Festival. David Carradine’s big vacation made him
another man. Here’s why.
Barefoot, in tee-shirt and jeans, David Carradine, the
unforgettable hero of the television series Kung Fu,
today takes time out to live. Exhausted by more than a
year of uninterrupted filming, he decided several months
ago to get some breathing space and get away from
Hollywood. Repulsed by the wonderful offerings of the
cinema, refusing Warner Bros.’s offers of gold to
continue the Kung Fu series, he preferred to cut his
ties to stardom and go go live as his inspiration
dictated, far from all social constraint. He ended up to
the northeast of Los Angeles, in Malibu, on the
oceanfront like a California surfer in a little wood
house on stilts. The décor of the immense, unique room
is one of spartan simplicity. On the walls, some
portraits – a painting of an old Indian chief,
photographs of his wife and his son Free, a picture
symbolizing the force lines of Oriental philosophy, a
fatalistic scrawl to the glory of the hippie life.
That’s all. By way of furniture, right on the floor, a
large woven mat covered with Indian blankets and an old
western rocking chair. In a corner of the room, the
master’s guitar lies around in the middle of scripts
pages and books about philosophy. Everything is in
joyous disorder. A huge bay window looks out towards the
sand and the ocean. An immense chimney in the middle of
the living room warms the Pacific’s cool air.
David loves this setting. He was happy when he was
living with his little family, his girlfriend Barbara
Hershey -- star of The Monroes, another successful TV
series – and their two children, a boy and a girl.
Unfortunately, after seven years of a busy life
together, his girlfriend recently left, leaving him
Buffalo, an enormous Great Dane, as his companion.
Carradine has had a hard time recovering. A loner in
Malibu, he roams endlessly over the yellow sand, he
reads, he picks out some tunes on his guitar. Very long
phone conversations with his best friends and drives at
wild speeds in his red Corvette are his only links with
the outside world.
After temporarily abandoning the small and big screens,
he didn’t have much to do. He finally recorded, in
London, a 33 rpm LP with some of his best songs, and
last May he went to the last Cannes festival where he
was the most sought-after anti-star on the Croisette.
Besides diving back into a world that has been his since
childhood (his father John is a very famous actor in the
United States) he saw many films and made contact with
cutting-edge filmmakers, the only ones he supports. In
between two screenings, he took his flute out of his
pocket – it’s less cumbersome than his guitar -- and
regaled the Croisette with Tibetan music.
Decidedly an odd person, this David Carradine. Even
though he has said he detests Kung Fu, his role as the
follower of non-violence unquestionably will stick to
him from now on like a second skin. And whether he wants
it or not, he has done as much for the worldwide spread
of kung fu as Bruce Lee. The broadcast in a few months
on channel 2 – scheduled for September, then pushed back
to January – of new, uncut episodes of Kung Fu will
definitely confirm that. See you soon, David… Meet you
during your next vacation, at the other side of the
world or in France". |
