Carradine, 72, was discovered naked and hanged in the wardrobe of his Bangkok hotel room on Thursday morning. A rope was tied around his neck and another around his genitals. An autopsy has yet to determine the cause of death and Thai police said they could not rule out suicide or a sex game gone wrong.

The star's personal manager, Chuck Binder, rejected the suicide theory but told CNN's Larry King: "I don't know if you want to call it accidental.

"I got some some calls from Thailand today from a producer that worked with him. I don't want to get into the middle of this whole investigation, but this guy said to me for sure there was foul play."

Tarantino, who revived Carradine's career by casting him in Kill Bill, described the star of 1970s series Kung Fu as "one of Hollywood's great, mad geniuses". Asked if Carradine would have liked his death to be the subject of such fevered speculation, Tarantino agreed: He told CNN: "If the last chapter of his autobiography was 'The Mysterious Demise of David Carradine', that would be perfect."

Michael Madsen, Carradine's Kill Bill co-star, added: "I think he would like it that way. It's a typical David way to go - the mysterious death of David Carradine."

Rob Schneider, the actor and director who appeared with Carradine in 2007 comedy Big Stan, said there were parallels with the case of Bruce Lee, whose death in 1973 sparked numerous conspiracy theories.

"The truth is, I think David always felt bad he took the Kung Fu role that was originated from Bruce Lee. I think it's a really odd and beautiful mystery that it's the same way as Bruce Lee. We'll never know exactly what happened with Bruce Lee," said Schneider.

A maid discovered Carradine's body in the luxury suite of the Nai Lert Park Hotel in Bangkok, after she knocked on the door and received no response. The actor was in the city to make a film.

"This certainly was not a natural cause of death," said Nantana Sirisap, chief coroner at Bangkok's Chulalongkom Hospital, adding that toxicology tests had been ordered.

Police chief Colonel Somprasong Yentuam said the investigation was continuing "We are currently interviewing witnesses, film crew, hotel staff and the last person who saw David alive. So far, no-one saw anyone enter David's room around the estimated time of death."

Aurelio Giraudo, the hotel's general manager, said the actor checked into the hotel on May 31 and appeared in good spirits, chatting with staff and entertaining guests by playing piano in the lobby.

"I was a fan. I had a very nice talk with him when he checked in. He was very much a person full of life. I mentioned to him that I had seen [the film] Crank with my family and that was the last smile he gave me," Mr Giraudo said.

Carradine's wife, Annie, and close friends rejected suggestions that the actor deliberately took his own life, despite the fact he had spoken openly of contemplating suicide in the past.

Michael Madsen said: "I don't think he was suicidal by any stretch of the imagination. I talked to Annie and she said the most important thing she wanted everybody to know is that David was not suicidal, he was not depressed and he was not going to do something like that."

Tarantino added: "There might have been a period of David's long life that he could have been suicidal, but this wasn't the time."

Telegraph.co.uk

From what I`ve read he was into `that` type of thing, so in all probability it all went wrong.

I can't imagine any one committing suicide by tying a rope around their genitals so I would think that it is the something went wrong scenario.