Between 1972 and 1975, David Carradine starred in an American TV series called Kung Fu. Carradine played Kwai Chang Caine, a Chinese Shaolin monk wandering the Wild West with only his Buddhist spiritualism to guide him and his marshal-arts skills to keep him safe.
Throughout the series, Carradine’s character helped those were defenseless and disarmed those who hurt or harmed them. Sort of a Zen Clint Eastwood. Along the way, he met many interesting and perplexing characters.
In 1975, in the episode “Battle Hymn,” Carradine encountered alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and guitarist José Feliciano. Interestingly, the episode’s director was Barry Crane, the producer and director of TV’s Mission Impossible, Mannix, and many other shows. Crane was a champion bridge player who was found murdered in his garage in July 1985, a crime that was never solved.
