Posted on 02/24/2026 5:41:19 AM PST by Drew68
Robert Carradine has died at age 71. He took his own life. The actor is best known for his roles in The Long Riders, Revenge of the Nerds, and Lizzie McGuire.
A beloved member of the storied clan of actors, Robert was the bedrock of his family, according to surviving older brother Keith Carradine. But he struggled for two decades with Bipolar Disorder and ultimately it got the best of him.
The family issued this statement to Deadline: “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 said the family wanted to know about what he called his brother’s valiant struggle with Bipolar Disorder.
“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” he said. “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.”
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.
Born March 24th, 1954, Carradine was the youngest son of actor John Carradine and a brother of actors David Carradine, Keith Carradine, and Disney Imagineer Christopher Carradine. He made his big screen debut in 1972 alongside John Wayne in The Cowboys, a role his brother David convinced him to audition for by telling him he “had everything to gain, and nothing to lose.” He went on to forge his own path as an actor, appearing in Hal Ashby’s Oscar winning film Coming Home, along with Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. It was a performance that led to speculation that he just might be the best actor in the family. He followed that performance with Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets in 1973.
In 1980, Robert had two films in the Cannes Film Festival, Samuel Fuller’s semi-autobiographical The Big Red One, with Mark Hamill and Lee Marvin, and Walter Hill’s The Long Riders, with his brothers, David and Keith. Walter Hill cast real brothers to play real-life outlaw brothers – Robert, Keith and David as the Younger brothers, James and Stacy Keach as Frank and Jesse James, Randy and Dennis Quaid as the Miller brothers, and Christopher and Nicholas Guest as the Ford brothers.
During shooting, Robert’s brother, David, fell in love with and then bought his movie horse, Z-Tan, who later came to live on Robert’s property in the Hollywood Hills. If you drove Mulholland Drive in the 1980s, you might have seen Robert’s daughter, actress Ever Carradine, riding him between their home and Runyon Canyon.
Perhaps his biggest film success came in 1984 with Revenge of the Nerds, in which he starred as head nerd, Lewis Skolnick, along with Anthony Edwards. It was a role that embedded him in the consciousness of a generation and went on to become one of the most beloved franchises of the decade. In the years that followed he found a new generation of fans as the father in the Lizzie McGuire series.
Despite no formal training, or ever learning to read music, Carradine maintained a deep love for playing guitar, especially with brothers Keith and David. They appeared together countless times at The Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Colorado, where Robert and Keith had homes. He also accompanied his friend and childhood hero, Peter Yarrow and folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. In the late 1980s, he and Mare Winningham had a band called The Waybacks, a nod to Mare’s childhood memories of riding not in the front or the back, but the way back of the family station wagon. It was a story they often told on stage together.
His other great love was race car driving, a passion that began with racing go-karts at 11 and blossomed into a life-long love of all things motorized. In the late 80’s and 90’s, he raced at the Grand Prix level, and was a driver on team Lotus with Paul Newman. Carradine always said that race car driving was his true love because winning a race meant that no one was better than him.
When he wasn’t driving cars, playing music, or acting in films, Robert was raising his children. In 1974, Carradine had a daughter, actress Ever Carradine, with Susan Snyder. He raised Ever as a single dad until 1990, when he met Edith Mani, with whom he welcomed two more children, Marika and Ian.
Carradine was loved by everyone who knew him. His niece, actress Martha Plimpton, says he was everyone’s favorite uncle. It was a role he cherished, and he never missed an opportunity to be with his nieces, their spouses, and their children. He also loved being a grandfather to Ever’s children, Chaplin and Sam, and Marika’s son, Jack. He was a regular at little league and horse shows and always jumped at the opportunity to babysit his grandkids. Robert is remembered by his family for being all heart, friends with anyone he met from every corner of his life, incapable of holding grudges, kind, funny, and loved nothing more than driving his loved ones to or from the airport.
The Carradines seem to be a cursed family. RIP.
Often, the greatest enemy is one’s own mind.
“The Long Riders”
Excellent movie.
Also The Big Red One.
Southern Comfort was also great.
Robert Carradine was in the Movie 'Revenge of the Nerds'. That is Curtis Armstrong in the picture. I post it because it was filmed in Tucson and Greasy Tony's had the best Philly Cheese-stake sandwich ever.
HollyWierd is a Satanic Cult and we are seeing the fruits of their religion.
I forgot he was in Southern Comfort.
He was a fun actor to watch.
He was the “Nerd.”
It really is a shock to hear that someone like him took his own life. He had children and grandchildren who, by all accounts, had a good relationship with him. I don’t think he was in financial trouble or had health troubles. But I think he had bipolar or some other mental disorder, and mental issues did run in the family.
Very sad. Mrs L met him a couple of times when he was a customer at the restaurant where she worked. She says he was a very nice guy.
L
Yes. David Carradine got rubbed out a number of years back
Rest In Peace, Robert Carradine.
Thanks for thread Drew. A very talented family
"Revenge of the Nerds" once considered one of the great comedies yet today has been reevaluated through the lens of social justice, #MeToo, and wokeism.
Carradine's nerd character Lewis Skolnick is now regarded to have been a literal rapist and we're no longer permitted to laugh at his antics.
Leftists ruin everything.
Eff ‘em, think I’ll watch it today in his memory.
“NERDS!”
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