Actor David Carradine found dead in Bangkok

Bangkok: David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series Kung Fu, was found dead Thursday in Thailand.

Police said he appeared to have hanged himself.

The officer responsible for investigating the death, Teerapop Luanseng, said the 72-year-old actor was staying at a suite at the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel.

"I can confirm that we found his body, naked, hanging in the closet," Teerapop said. He said police suspected suicide.

A spokesman for the US Embassy, Michael Turner, said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Carradine was in Bangkok shooting the movie "Stretch," said his manager, Chuck Binder.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday.

His body was found by a hotel maid on Thursday morning.

Preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the suite's curtains. It cited police as saying there was no sign that he had been assaulted.