Date of Birth

5 February 1906, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

27 November 1988, Milan, Italy (natural causes

Son of a reporter/artist and a surgeon. Grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. Attended Christ Church School, and Graphic Art School, studying sculpture. Roamed the South selling sketches. Made acting debut in Camille in a New Orleans theatre in 1925. Arrived in Los Angeles in 1927, worked in local theatre. Applied as scenic designer to Cecil B. DeMille, who rejected his designs but gave him voice work in several films. Debuted on film in Tol'able David (1930), billed as Peter Richmond. Protege and close friend of John Barrymore. Extremely prolific movie character actor, while simultaneously maintaining a stage career in classic leading roles such as Hamlet and Malvolio. Typed in later years as horror star. Member of the "John Ford Stock Company."

Father of Chris Carradine, David Carradine, Keith Carradine and Robert Carradine. Adoptive father of Bruce Carradine.

The Carradine family traces its ancestry back to an actual saint--St. Pedro Carradegna, patron saint of Barcelona.

Grandfather of Martha Plimpton.

Changed his name to John Carradine in 1935.

Always ranked his performance in Bluebeard (1944) high among his career favorites.

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2003.

Grandfather of Ever Carradine.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 165-167. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

Claimed near the end of his life to have appeared more movies than any other actor, surpassing the record set by Donald Crisp, the Oscar-winning actor and director who had started in silent films and had appeared in numerous one and two-reel films, many of them lost. The title for actor who appeared in most films likely is a contest between Carradine (more than 300 films) and Crisp (at least 170 known films). Of the contemporary generation, Christopher Lee, who has acted in more films than his peers (over 200 films), does not come close to matching Carradine's prolificity.

In later life he suffered from crippling arthritis, but continued to work.

Had the word "HAM" in his License Plates on his Mercedes when he lived in Santa Barbara, California.

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