Robert Carradine, known for “Revenge of the Nerds” and “Lizzie McGuire,” died at 71 after being admitted to a neuropsychiatric hospital on Jan. 16, reporting suicidal ideation. A medical examiner report says he died from complications of anoxic brain injury fo
Robert Carradine checked into a neuropsychiatric hospital on Jan. 16, a month before his death on Feb. 23 at age 71. In the medical examiner report now made public after the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner closed the case. the actor is described as having reported suicidal ideation when he entered the facility.
His family had previously confirmed he died by suicide after what had been described as a nearly two-decade battle with bipolar disorder.
After five weeks of hospitalization, the report says Carradine died of sequelae of anoxic brain injury—complications that occur when oxygen is completely cut off from the brain—following his suicide attempt.
The disclosure comes as mental health experts and public advocates increasingly ask what it looks like when a crisis reaches inside a hospital’s walls: one step closer to safety, and yet, in this case, not enough to stop a fatal outcome.
Bipolar disorder is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as a mental illness marked by unusual shifts in a person’s mood. energy. activity levels. and concentration. The condition has three types: Bipolar I disorder. Bipolar II disorder. and Cyclothymic disorder. each with its own range of symptoms.
The report places those long, difficult years in a sharper timeline. Carradine’s admission on Jan. 16 followed by his death on Feb. 23 frames the final weeks not as an abrupt ending, but as a short window in which he sought care after reporting suicidal thoughts.
In his acting career, Carradine became widely recognized for playing Lewis on “Revenge of the Nerds” and Sam on “Lizzie McGuire.” He was best known for those roles, but his path to them began decades earlier. He got his start in acting in 1971 with a guest-starring role on “Bonanza.”
By 1972, he landed a role as Slim in the John Wayne Western “The Cowboys,” which also had a spinoff television series. The 1970s included appearances in the Oscar-winning film “Coming Home” and Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets.”
Through the years, he accumulated close to two dozen credits by 1980, starring as Bob Younger in “The Long Riders” alongside brothers Keith and David, and as Private Zab in “The Big Red One.”
His breakout came with the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” where he portrayed the dorky underdog Lewis Skolnick, and later appeared in its sequels—helping turn the “nerd” into a recognizable social group.
Between the film’s three sequels, Carradine guest-starred in roles including “Monte Carlo,” “ER,” “Lois & Clark,” “NYPD Blue,” and the David Carradine-led “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues.” In film, he starred in “Escape from L.A.” in 1996.
By 2001, Carradine played Sam, a corny but lovable dad, on the Disney Channel series “Lizzie McGuire,” opposite Hilary Duff. He reprised the role in the 2003 film and later in the short-lived 2020 reboot.
For Carradine’s fans, the new medical details land alongside the legacy of familiar characters. For mental health advocates, they land with harder weight: a report of suicidal ideation, hospitalization beginning Jan. 16, and a death on Feb. 23 described as following an attempt, with anoxic brain injury complications after oxygen was completely cut off from the brain.
Robert Carradine Lizzie McGuire Revenge of the Nerds Los Angeles County Medical Examiner neuropsychiatric hospital bipolar disorder suicidal ideation anoxic brain injury suicide attempt