Carradine had a number of ups and downs in his career and was considered largely B-list. As an actor, he was generally liked, but as a martial artist, he was largely mocked. Hard-core enthusiasts never forgave television executives passing up on Bruce Lee for the role that made the non-martial-artist Carradine famous. Typecasting kept him in the genre of action movies and television, so he gamely rolled with it, eventually developing an interest, on his own, of tai chi, but this is a man who, in his career, had worked with Scorcese, Bergman, and Tarantino. He performed on Broadway. I’m sure he would have rather been remembered as an actor.
Funny thing; I just realized that my first exposure to Shaolin was through Kung Fu. I wonder how many others are making the same connection.
