He will be missed.
The surf world is a little grayer, today, after the announcement that the actor Robert Carradine took his own life at the age of 71. Carradine was born into the very famous Carradine family with notable actors and actresses up and down the tree. He made his first onscreen appearance in John Wayne’s The Cowboys. He later appeared alongside Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Dezi Arnez Jr. and Melanie Griffith in many films before achieving great success with 1984’s Revenge of the Nerds.
The comedy, which featured much hijinks, was critically panned though embraced by audiences and raced to a whopping $40 million box office take, $137 million in today’s dollars.
Carradine was best known, though, for his constant appearances on the anti-depressive surf website BeachGrit. His visage, mostly playing Lewis Skolnick, was used to enhance many articles relating to The Inertia, a different surf website which just so happened to be founded by a nerd and is read, exclusively, by nerds.
Carradine’s family was very open about his mental health struggles, releasing a statement reading, “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.”
He will be missed.