Carradine family

The Carradine family are the family of American actor John Carradine, who had five sons, four of whom became actors.

The family includes:

John Carradine (1906–1988), married four times including:

(i) Ardanelle McCool (marriage 1935–1944)

• Bruce John Carradine (born April 10, 1933),^[1] adopted, son from previous marriage of Ardanelle^[2]
• David Carradine (1936–2009), married five times and had three children and four step-children:

• Calista Carradine (born April 1962), by Donna Lea Becht (1st wife)
• Tom Carradine (born 1972), by domestic partner Barbara Hershey (at birth, given name was "Free"; later changed to "Tom")
• Kansas Carradine (born May 1978), by Linda Gilbert (2nd wife)

His fifth wife Annie Bierman (neé Anne Kirstie Fraser) had four other children from two previous husbands^[3]

• Amanda Fraser Eckelberry (born November 29, 1989) by first husband Marc Duke Eckelberry (Born in 1954 in California).
• Madeleine Rose (born April 4, 1995) by second husband Dana Richard Bierman (Born on September 8, 1952 in San Francisco, California and died 9 December 2000 at age 48 of pancreatic cancer in Tarzana, Los Angeles, California).
• Olivia Juliette (born 1998), twin sister of Max, also by second husband Dana Richard Bierman.
• Max Richard (born 1998), twin brother of Olivia, also by second husband Dana Richard Bierman.

(ii) Sonia Sorel (marriage 1944–1956), later married artist Michael Bowen and had a son actor Michael Bowen (born 1957)^[4]

• Christopher Carradine (born 1947), architect who became Vice President of Walt Disney Imagineering^[5]
• Keith Carradine (born 1949)

• Martha Plimpton (born 1970), by Shelley Plimpton
• Cade Richmond Carradine, (born 1982)
• Sorel Johannah Carradine (born 1985), both by Sandra Will (1st wife)

• Robert Carradine (born 1954)

• Ever Carradine (born 1974), by Susan Snyder
• Marica Reed Carradine (born 1990)
• Ian Alexander Carradine (born 1992), both by Edie Mani (his wife since 1990)

John Carradine appeared with his son David in The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) and co-starred with him in Boxcar Bertha (1972) which was produced by Roger Corman and directed by Martin Scorsese. He also appeared in three episodes of the 1970s television series Kung Fu, in which David starred. David's brothers Bruce, Keith and Robert also appeared in the series, with Keith playing David's character as a teenager for a brief period.

Bruce Carradine also appeared with David in Q, The Winged Serpent (1982) and in David's directorial "labor of love", Americana.

David and his half-brothers Keith and Robert appeared together as the Younger brothers in Walter Hill's 1980 film The Long Riders and the three of them appeared in a humorous cameo on The Fall Guy, on an episode on which their father co-starred. Robert also "shot David to death" in a cameo in Scorsese's Mean Streets. Keith was in another of David's directorial attempts, You and Me, while Robert co-starred with David in the unreleased musical which David directed, A Country Mile.

David and Keith each hosted the History Channel's Wild West Tech and appeared in at least two additional films together, Last Stand at Saber Creek (for which Keith won an award) and The Outsider.

David's daughter, Calista, appeared in a recurring role on Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. She also had a role in Project Eliminator, with her father. She was the star of the unreleased epic, Mata Hari, which David directed. In addition, she sang the theme to Americana, a song that David wrote called Around. David appeared with his niece, Ever, in Dead and Breakfast.

Gallery

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  John Carradine

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  David Carradine

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  Keith Carradine

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  Robert Carradine

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  Martha Plimpton

References

1. ^ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995 (Bruce John Carradine) [database on-line"]. United States: The Generations Network. 2005. http://www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
2. ^ Bruce Carradine bio, at Internet Movie Database
3. ^ Bruce Weber, "David Carradine, Actor, Is Dead at 72". The New York Times, June 4, 2009. Retrieved on June 14, 2009.
4. ^ Sonia Sorel bio at Internet Movie Database.
5. ^ Chris Carradine bio at Internet Movie Database.

External links

• John Carradine at the Internet Movie Database
• David Carradine Family Tree