Robert Carradine’s manner of death was confirmed as suicide by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s Office following his passing on Monday.
According to online records viewed by TheWrap, the L.A. Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Carradine died by suicide after his family shared in a statement that the actor, best known for his work in the “Revenge of the Nerds” films, “The Long Riders” and Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire,” passed following “a two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder.” He was 71.
“It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle and brother Robert Carradine has passed away,” the actor’s family wrote in a statement to media. “In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon on light to everyone around him. We are bereft at the loss of this beautiful soul and want to acknowledge Bobby’s valiant struggle against his nearly two-decade battle with Bipolar Disorder. We hope his journey can shine a light and encourage addressing the stigma that attaches to mental illness. At this time we ask for the privacy to grieve this unfathomable loss. With gratitude for your understanding and compassion.”
Carradine was a member of the storied Carradine acting family, which also includes his brothers, actors David Carradine, Keith Carradine and Disney Imagineer Christopher Carradine. In addition to his work on “Lizzie McGuire,” “Revenge of the Nerds” and “The Long Riders,” Carradine was known for his performances in 1972’s “The Cowboys” alongside John Wayne, as well as Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning film “Coming Home,” which also starred Jane Fonda and Jon Voight.
In the wake of his passing, several of Carradine’s friends and former colleagues took to social media to pay tribute to the late actor.
Hilary Duff, who played Carradine’s onscreen daughter in the “Lizzie McGuire” series and its 2003 follow-up film, “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” shared on Instagram Monday that she was struggling “to face this reality about an old friend.”
She added: “There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that. I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering. My heart aches for him, his family and everyone who loved him.”
Jake Thomas, who played Matt McGuire, shared his own tribute on Instagram, writing, “My heart hurts today. I was fortunate to know Bobby for most of my life. And he was one of the coolest guys you could ever meet. Funny, pragmatic, sometimes cranky, always a little eccentric.”
Jamie Lee Curtis remembered Carradine as one of her “first loves” on social media, writing in her own tribute on Instagram: “I met him live on television on the Dinah Shore show when they had a bunch of second generation actors, we would call them now Nepo babies, Veronica Cartwright, and Bobby and I came on last and Bobby rearranged where we were all sitting so that he could sit next to me and he kissed me, live on television. A very public meet cute.”
Carradine is survived by his children, Ever, Marika and Ian, as well as several grandchildren, brothers, nieces and nephews.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988 is a free, 24/7 confidential service that can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, or those around them, with support, information and local resources.
