Leave David Carradine Alone

The body of David Carradine was returned to the U.S. yesterday following his death last week in Thailand, and before his family has had a chance to lay the Kung Fu star to rest, two of his ex-wives have crawled out of the woodwork to claim that he was a sexual deviant.

One of them—his third wife, Gail Jensen—claimed David liked to tie himself up and "had his kinky moments" and but then she went on to declare that "he was the love of my life and he always will be." Oh really? I didn't know loving someone included telling the world about their unusual sexual proclivities after they died.

I guess there's a reason they were his EX wives.

To make things worse, David's last TV appearance, on the Fox TV show Mental, aired tonight. He played a catatonic professor who had been struck by lightning. I have to say I was kinda disturbed watching the motionless, speechless actor. It was sort of freaky.



The promos for the show didn't mention that he was in the episode and the producers' only concession was a brief In Memoriam note at the end of the episode. I guess they figured the unwarranted PR would result in a ratings bonanza for the fledgling show, but after watching Mental and its slow-moving plot, unnecessary histrionics from the lead character and poor production values, I won't be tuning in again.

I feel so sorry for David's family. They not only have to deal with his death, but with the publication of a photo of the death scene, and intrusive speculation about his sex life and the circumstances under which he died. It is sad when a person's death overshadows anything he might have worked hard to achieve in his life.

Rest in peace? I doubt that'll happen anytime soon for David Carradine.