In this film noir tale, Bill (Carradine), the head of an all female assassination squad named the "Deadly Vipers" shot down one his crew "Black Mamba" (Uma Thurman), while pregnant with his child. She survived, though the bullet, inoperably lodged in her brain, kept her in a coma for five years. Awakened, she set out for revenge on her killer and his co-conspirators (Michael Madsen plays Bill's brother, Lucy Liu plays "Cottonmouth," Daryl Hannah as Bill's second-in-command "California Mountain Snake" and Vivica A. Fox as "Copperhead"). Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Miramax) released October 10th, 2003 and Vol. 2 released on April 16th, 2004.
Carradine is the eldest son of the legendary character actor John Carradine, and now presides over an acting family that includes brothers Keith, Robert and Michael Bowen as well as his daughter Kansas and nieces Ever Carradine and Martha Plimpton. He was born in Hollywood and educated at San Francisco State College where he studied music theory and composition. It was while writing music for the Drama Department's annual revues that he discovered his own passion for the stage, joining a Shakespearian repertory company and learning his craft on his feet.
After a two-year stint in the Army, he found work in New York as a commercial artist and later found fame on Broadway in The Deputy and The Royal Hunt of The Sun opposite Christopher Plummer. With that experience he returned to Hollywood, landing the short-lived TV series "Shane" before being tapped to star opposite Barbara Hershey in Martin Scorsese's first Hollywood film, Boxcar Bertha (1972). The iconic "Kung Fu" followed, catapulting Carradine to superstardom for the next three years, until he left the series to pursue his film career.
That career now includes more than 100 feature films, a couple of dozen television movies, a whole range of theater on and off Broadway, and another hit series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues." Carradine received the Best Actor Award from the National Board of Film Review as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Woody Guthrie in Hal Ashby's Bound for Glory, and won critical acclaim for his work as Cole Younger in The Long Riders, which many believe is his best work to date. "Kung Fu" also received seven Emmy nominations in its first season including one for Carradine as Best Actor. In addition he won the People's Prize at the Cannes Film Festival's "Director's Fortnight" for his work on Americana, and a second Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role in "North and South."
Among his other most notable film credits are Gray Lady Down, Mean Streets, Bird on a Wire, The Long Goodbye, You and Me, The Serpent's Egg and Circle of Iron.
Carradine has also continued his devotion to music, and has recorded some 60 tracks from various musical genres and sung in several movies.
Having finished Kill Bill, Carradine recently guest starred on two episodes of the hit show "Alias". He makes his home in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Annie, her four children and their three dogs.
