What terrible news to start the day with. Deadline reports that actor Robert Carradine, best known for his starring role in the Revenge of the Nerds franchise, has passed away at the age of 71, taking his own life after a two-decade struggle with Bipolar Disorder.

Career

The son of actress / artist Sonia Sorel and legendary character actor John Carradine, Robert Carradine was born on March 24, 1954 – and, like his brother Keith and their half-brother David, he also got into acting. After making his TV debut in a 1971 episode of Bonanza, he landed his first film role in 1972’s The Cowboys, where he got to share the screen with John Wayne. He reprised his role from that film in a The Cowboys TV series, which only lasted twelve episodes.

For more than fifty years, he remain steadily employed, racking up 150 screen acting credits. Project include Aloha Bobby and Rose, The Pom Pom Girls, Massacre at Central High, Orca, Coming Home, The Big Red One, Heartaches, Tag: The Assassination Game, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Magical World of Disney, Number One with a Bullet, Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8, I Saw What You Did, The Player, The Tommyknockers, ER, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Humanoids from the Deep, NYPD Blue, The Practice, The Kid with X-ray Eyes, Nash Bridges, Monte Walsh, Timecop: The Berlin Decision, Tooth and Nail, Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt, Django Unchained, Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda; Mommy, I Didn’t Do It; The Night They Came Home, and more. He worked with director John Carpenter on Ghosts of Mars, Escape from L.A., and Body Bags.

He shared the screen with his brother David on Kung Fu and appeared in Mean Streets as the “boy with gun” who shoots David’s character. Robert, David, and Keith played the Younger brothers in the 1980 Western The Long Riders. The trio also appeared in an episode of The Fall Guy with their father.

As mentioned, Carradine is best known for starring as Lewis Skolnick in the Revenge of the Nerds franchise – although some may known him as Sam McGuire from Disney’s Lizzie McGuire, and with his Revenge of the Nerds co-star Curtis Armstrong he also hosted a competition show I really enjoyed, King of the Nerds. In recent months, fans have had the opportunity to see him every week in episodes of the Party Nerds Pop-Cast, which he co-hosted with his friend Richard Gabai.

Gabai took to social media to say, “Very blessed to have had Bobby in my life. The best friend anyone could have. THE BEST. I will love him forever. May his memory be a blessing.“

Family Statement

Carradine’s family provided Deadline with the following statement: “It is with profound sadness that we must share that our beloved father, grandfather, uncle, and brother Robert Carradine has passed away. 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.“

Keith Carradine added that the family wanted the public to know about Robert’s valiant struggle with Bipolar Disorder. “We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it. It is an illness that got the best of him, and 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.“

Deadline notes, “Robert Carradine is survived by his children, grandchildren, brothers, nieces, nephews and anyone who had the honor of having him in their life. His family asks for privacy at this time.”

This news hits me hard because not only have I been a fan of Robert Carradine my entire life (some of my earliest memories involve watching the first two Revenge of the Nerds movies with family members), but I’ve also been having fun seeing him on the Party Nerds Pop-Cast every week. An episode where Carradine sat alongside Clint Howard and joked about the two starring in a comedy like Grumpy Old Men even got me daydreaming about what such a movie could be like… but, sadly, it wasn’t to be.

This is a devastating loss. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Robert Carradine’s family, friends, and fans.