ululate!

Robert Carradine, 1984 and more recently

A sad ending for Robert Carradine, dead by suicide at age 71. Carradine is famous for his leading role as Lewis Skolnick in Revenge of the Nerds. He was apparently bipolar for almost twenty years. Part of the Carradine acting family, Robert is the second Carradine (half-)brother to kill himself, the first being older brother David Carradine of Kung Fu and Kill Bill fame. In David's case, the suicide might not have been intentional since the sordid circumstances involved autoerotic asphyxiation. (What good is all of that kung fu discipline if it doesn't help you resolve your kink?) In Robert's case, it sounds as if this was simply a matter of crushing depression. The only time I've ever been that depressed was right after my mother died, and I do remember asking myself why I was still alive after I'd woken up from a long sleep the day after her death. But for most of us, life after such a tragedy goes on, and we make our way through the world—maybe stronger, maybe just scarred. But clinical depression and bipolarity, which I admit I don't understand that deeply, can apparently pull a person into some very dark places. While part of me still sees suicide as a selfish and shortsighted act, another part of me has grown to realize that I live with—and haven't yet mastered—my own compulsions, so maybe I'm not in the best position to judge others who, for chemical or other reasons, can't seem to see any way forward. RIP, Robert.