A lawsuit filed by the widow of actor David Carradine presents the creative theory that he died in a Bangkok hotel room because a French film production company did not meet the “industry standard” for providing “amenities” to movie stars.

There appears to be no precedent for Anne Carradine's audacious wrongful-death case, which alleges David Carradine, 72, would not have been alone in his hotel if the personal assistant assigned to him by the makers of the film “Stretch” had not gone to dinner without him. He died June 3, 2009 — reportedly asphyxiating himself during an autoerotic act.

As part of his employment contract, the complaint says, MK2 Productions “agreed to provide David Carradine with 'all the best amenities'” and

The standard in the community included amenities such as a personal assistant, transportation to and from meetings, evening events and coordination of events so that the actor was not left in foreign city after filming all day without ensuring his transportation to a dinner meeting, and other personal needs.

David Carradine

Anne Carradine, who is represented by celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, stresses that her husband died on “only [his] third day” in Bangkok. “As a result of the negligence of Defendants, David Carradine died while performing acting services for MK2's film, Stretch, in Bangkok, Thailand,” the suit alleges.

Breach-of-contract claims can, obviously, arise from a studio's failure to provide stars with amenities. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for one, insisted on a contract rider requiring his employers to furnish him with a huge fifth-wheel trailer plus a 40-foot semi-trailer as a personal gym.

A wrongful-death claim based on a negligent failure to provide dinner transportation, though, is quite another matter — and would expose film studios to almost limitless liability for off-the-set injuries to actors.

According to police, a chambermaid at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park in Bangkok found Carradine — “naked, hanging in a closet” — at 10 a.m. on June 4, 2009. Famed pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who conducted an autopsy of Carradine's body, did not rule out autoerotic asphyxiation as the cause of death.

Anne Carradine, however, alleges a death-by-deficient-coddling. According to her complaint, David Carradine's personal assistant called his room on the night of June 3 to “coordinate the dinner plans” but, when he didn't respond, “the assistant and other Stretch crew left for dinner without him.”

“Approximately an hour later,” the suit continues, “David Carradine reached the assistant and was told that they were already across town and David Carradine would have to make his own arrangements that evening.”

Geragos is known for creative pleading and he might just be able to establish there is an “industry standard” for coddling movie stars which MK2 breached by stranding Carradine at the Swissotel. He could also argue that Carradine, like many actors, was an eccentric character — “There was a dark side to David, there was a very intense side to David,” one of his former wives has said.

But buying the argument that Carradine's death resulted from MK2's breach of its duty requires an extreme suspension of disbelief. After all, neither his personal assistant nor anyone else on the “Stretch” crew could possibly have foreseen that, left to his own devices, he would manage to strangle himself.

Geragos may, ultimately, have filed the suit to leverage some insurance money out of MK2. The complaint states that the company took out a policy on Carradine but his widow has not received her benefits “in a swift and timely manner.”

By Matthew Heller
6/27/10