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Actor David Carradine was found dead in his Bangkok hotel room today by police who report that he seems to have taken his own life by hanging. He was 72-years-old.

Best known for his roles playing outsiders who through circumstance become heroes, Carradine was the eldest son of legendary actor John Carradine. Acting runs in the family's blood as David's other brothers, Keith, Robert and Bruce, are also actors as well as Martha Plimpton, Carradine's niece.

Carradine got his start on television westerns and anthology shows in the early 1960s before making his mark on pop culture with the character of Kwai Chang Caine in Kung Fu. A Shaolin monk with mixed ancestry, his character wanted to dispense pearls of wisdom to would-be assailants before resorting to using his martial arts abilities to solve the problem. The show ran for three seasons.

Carradine also had notable roles in Roger Corman's cult classic Death Race 2000 as Frankenstein, the disfigured race car driver and the leader of a group of assassins in Quentin Tarantino's two Kill Bill movies, a role that he was nominated for a Golden Globe. His career spanned five decades and over 200 roles in film and television.

The actor was in Bangkok filming his new movie Control. After failing to show for a crew meal staff entered Carradine's suite in the luxury Siwssotel Nai Lert Park hotel and discovered his body hanging by a cord inside a closet. Bangkok police are investigating Carradine's death but say that foul play does not seem to be involved. An autopsy has been scheduled to be conducted tomorrow.