<P> Pera was born in New York City, New York, the son of actress Lisa Pera . His mother moved to Hollywood in 1963 so that she could pursue an acting career . </P> <P> From 1972 until 1975, Radames appeared as the young Kwai Chang Caine in the ABC television series Kung Fu . Caine was an orphan from Hunan Province in China who had an American father and a Chinese mother . He appeared throughout the 4 - year run show on ABC and worldwide re-runs . For the role of Caine, Radames had to shave his head other than the pilot movie where he was initially shown with hair before scenes showing his head being shaved . He appeared bald in all other episodes . In the series he mainly worked with veteran Asian - American actors Philip Ahn (Master Kan), Keye Luke (blind Master Po, who called him "Grasshopper") and Richard Loo (Master Sun), and was mostly shown living in a Shaolin Monastery where he was taught by the monks to be a Shaolin master . He is depicted as the first person to be welcomed into a Shaolin Monastery who was not of full Chinese birth . The main role of Kwai Chang Caine as an adult was played by David Carradine . </P> <P> Radames also had a recurring role on Little House on the Prairie as John (Jr .), eldest adopted son of Mr. Edwards, and became Mary Ingalls' love interest during the show's first three seasons . </P> <P> At age eight, Radames was asked by director Daniel Mann to play the role of Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas' dying son in the film A Dream of Kings (1969). He met the director at a dinner party and was eventually cast in the role of Stavros . </P>

Little house on the prairie john jr died