David Carradine's Most Memorable Character
by Vera H-C ChanJun 4, 2009
As people look for the reason behind David Carradine's death by hanging, his ending is at odds with iconic TV image he created as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1972 series, "Kung Fu."
Whether he shunted aside Bruce Lee for the role as the biracial Shaolin monk wandering late 19th-century America is subject to debate. (According to his widow's biography, Lee had pitched the concept. The TV producers said it was a different pitch to tap into the hugely popular underground indies and Hong Kong martial arts movies.)
Regardless, Carradine got the role, and he became identified with Caine his entire career. The peacenik character, in search of a long-lost brother, was different than the '70s big-screen action heroes, quick to shoot punks and not prone to introspection.
Carradine's monk basically revamped the old cinematic Western frontier hero with modern touches: His "half-breed" (half Chinese, half white) background touched on the race issues, his Buddhism hit the Eastern spiritual craze, and the kung fu was downright exotic... although he didn't use his deadly skills unless he absolutely had to, which was pretty much every episode.
The show only lasted three years on ABC, but introduced a television audience to a new religion, fighting system, Chinese culture, and classic TV moments. Cue the intro: Young Caine has to walk on rice paper, and when Grasshopper (as his master Po called him) showed he could walk without leaving an imprint, he was ready to face the world.
As to why Grasshopper, the nickname came when his blind master asked what Caine could hear with his eyes closed. Courtesy of Wikipedia:
Master Po: Do you hear the grasshopper?
Caine: Old man, who is it that you hear these things?
Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?
