Actor Robert Carradine Dies by Suicide After Bipolar Disorder Battle

The actor killed himself, his family said in a statement that aimed to raise awareness of ‘his nearly two-decade battle with bipolar disorder’

Robert Carradine, a member of the famed acting family who was known for his roles in Revenge of the Nerds and Lizzie McGuire, has died aged 71.

Carradine killed himself after years of living with bipolar disorder, his family said in a statement which they said they hoped would raise awareness.

“It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and brother Robert Carradine has passed away,” the Carradine family said in a statement to Deadline on Monday.

“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.”

His older brother Keith Carradine, also an actor, told Deadline the family wanted the world to know about his brother’s mental illness.

“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” he told Deadline. “I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul. He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day. We will take solace in how funny he could be, how wise and utterly accepting and tolerant he was. That’s who my baby brother was.”

In 2009 Carradine’s older half-brother David died aged 72 from asphyxiation in a hotel room in Thailand. Carradine later said his mental illness was triggered by the death of his brother, and he was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Born in 1954, Carradine was the youngest son of actor John Carradine. He had two older half-brothers, David and Bruce, from his father’s first marriage, and two older brothers, Keith and Christopher; all but Christopher went into acting in some capacity.

Carradine made his film debut alongside John Wayne in The Cowboys in 1972, followed in quick succession by a part in the Oscar-winning film Coming Home and a small role in Martin Scorsese’s 1973 film Mean Streets, in which he shot his brother David.

In 1980 he appeared in The Long Riders with David and Keith as the Younger brothers, a real outlaw family; meanwhile, Randy and Dennis Quaid played the Miller brothers, Stacy and James Keach played Frank and Jesse James, and Christopher and Nicholas Guest appeared as the Ford brothers.

Carradine’s biggest hit was the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds, in which he played the lead Lewis Skolnick. Carradine spent time undercover at the University of Arizona convincing real students he was an actual nerd. He returned for three sequels in 1987, 1992 and 1994.

Later in his life, Carradine became well known to a new generation as Lizzie McGuire’s father Sam, appearing alongside Hilary Duff in 65 episodes of the much-loved children’s show between 2001 and 2004.

Carradine had a daughter, the actor Ever Carradine, with Susan Snyder. He later married Edith Mani and they had two children, Marika and Ian, before divorcing in 2015 after 25 years of marriage. During the divorce proceedings in 2017, Mani alleged Carradine had attempted to kill them both in a car crash in Colorado in 2015, with Carradine admitting he was in a “psychotic state” at the time.