3 Generations of the Carradine Dynasty

Among the most recognizable of names among a handful of multigenerational film families, the Carradines stand out. John Carradine -- and, to a lesser extent, his oldest son, David -- had early success before slumming on the screen, while two of David's brothers, though they never reached such heights of success, didn't sink so low, either. Only one member of the third generation, Martha Plimpton, briefly made a name for herself, but she's had a modest but respectable career since then.

John Carradine has the distinction of appearing in more full-length films than anyone else in Hollywood history, though there are many roles, especially later in his career, he should have passed on. He appeared in classics like "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Stagecoach," but worked on plenty of stinkers, too. Curiously enough, the same can be said of three of his four sons, who followed in their father's filmic footsteps with promising starts but diminishing returns.

David Carradine started out with small roles in the likes of early Martin Scorsese efforts "Mean Streets" and "Boxcar Bertha." But after starring in the hit early-1970s TV series "Kung Fu"-- about a meek half-Chinese monk with martial arts skills who reluctantly roams the Old West incapacitating bad guys too dumb to just shoot him -- (and returning in a 1990s reboot), he sank into genre oblivion until Quentin Tarantino tapped him for the title role in his "Kill Bill" films. David immediately returned to schlock that banked on his cult-star status and died in Thailand in 2009 while working on yet another forgettable film.

Keith Carradine's career looked bright after turns in Robert Altman's ensemble classic "Nashville" and Stanley Kubrick's obsession-obsessed "The Duellists," but he never worked with such talent again (though he had recurring roles in the highly regarded TV series "Deadwood" and "Dexter"). Robert Carradine's high point was "Revenge of the Nerds," though he acquitted himself well in Samuel Fuller's World War II memento "The Big Red One." (All three brothers also appeared together as siblings and members of Jesse James's gang in "The Long Riders.") Keith and Robert still keep busy, though.

Other actors in the Carradine clan include Martha Plimpton, Keith's daughter, who has worked steadily since starting out as a child actor in the early 1980s, appearing mostly on TV during the last decade, and her half-siblings Cade and Sorel Carradine, who both have a few credits. Robert's daughter Ever has acted, generally on TV, since the mid-1990s. David's daughters Calista and Kansas have each been in a handful of films. Bruce, an adopted brother of David, Keith, and Robert, flirted briefly with acting in the early 1980s.