Anne Carradine says actor should have still been alive

Jun 4, 2010 13:02 GMT  ·  By
David Carradine would still be alive if the movie company had taken better care of him, his widow claims in wrongful death lawsuit
   David Carradine would still be alive if the movie company had taken better care of him, his widow claims in wrongful death lawsuit

Precisely one year ago, the body of veteran actor David Carradine was found lifeless in his Bangkok suite. The star was there on location for a new film, and he accidentally hung himself in the closet in his hotel room, the autopsy revealed. His widow is now taking the film company to court for wrongful death, saying the actor should have still been alive, E! News reports.

Anne Carradine believes, as per court papers just unveiled, that the movie company should have taken better care of David, or else he wouldn’t be dead now. In other words, the widow is arguing that he should have been provided with better amenities and be better treated to prevent the accident, for autopsy results also ruled out suicide. As per the lawsuit, Carradine’s death could have been prevented – and the company producing his film should be held liable for it.

“Maybe if David Carradine had ‘sufficient assistance’ in Bangkok, he wouldn’t now be dead. At least that’s what the actor’s widow, Anne Carradine, stipulates in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed Thursday against the production company behind the film her husband was shooting in Thailand when he was found dead in his Bangkok hotel room. […] Cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging that was not a suicide, as determined by Thai medical officials and a forensics expert hired by the Carradine family, who also performed a second autopsy,” E! reports.

“Anne Carradine’s lawsuit does not detail the way in which the 72-year-old Kill Bill star died, only stating that the loss of her ‘faithful and dutiful husband... will continue to cause great and severe damages’ to the plaintiff. She alleges that French production company MS2 S.A. broke its contractual obligation to Carradine to provide him with ‘all the best amenities’ and ‘sufficient assistance’ while he was in Bangkok shooting Stretch. MS2 S.A. also, according to Anne’s camp, tried to collect insurance money that was owed to Carradine’s family,” the same report goes on to say.

For what she considers was a big part in the actor’s death, Anne Carradine is seeking unspecified damages on claims like wrongful death, negligence and breach of contract. The movie company was not immediately available for comment at the time of writing.