This article includes mention of suicide.
Robert Carradine, an actor known for his role in Lizzie McGuire, has died at the age of 71.
Deadline reports that Carradine took his own life after struggling with bipolar disorder for two decades. Read a statement from the family below.
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.
His older brother, Keith Carradine, also released a statement, in which he emphasizes that he wants the public to know about Robert’s bipolar disorder and that “there is no shame in it.”
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.
Carradine was born on March 24th, 1954 to actors John Carradine and Sonia Sorel. His first movie credit came in the 1972 John Wayne film Cowboys, landing the role after his brother, David, told him that by auditioning he “had everything to gain, and nothing to lose.” In the coming years, Carradine also starred in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, Jane Fonda and Jon Voight’s Coming Home, and The Long Riders, the last of which also featured his brothers David and Keith. The trio played the real-life outlaw brothers Bob, Cole, and Jim Younger. This was followed by his role as Lewis Skolnick in Revenge of the Nerds and its sequels.
In the early 2000s, he made his mark on Disney Channel Original shows as Sam McGuire, the father of the titular character played by Hilary Duff in Lizzie McGuire. He was a series regular during both seasons and starred alongside David in a season 1 episode, where David instructs Matt McGuire (Jake Thomas) in the ways of kung fu. Carradine reprised the role of Sam for The Lizzie McGuire Movie and was also set to play him again for the Hulu revival series before it was scrapped.
Beyond his acting career, Carradine was passionate about playing the guitar and performed at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Colorado with David and Keith, and he had a band in the 1980s called The Waybacks. Another passion of his was race car driving, which evolved from racing go-karts at 11 years old to racing at the Grand Prix in the 1980s and 1990s, and he was even a driver on Team Lotus with Paul Newman.
Robert Carradine is survived by his children, grandchildren, brothers, nieces, and nephews, and his family asks for privacy at this time.