Michael Madsen

Michael Madsen — Biography

Born in Chicago to a mother of Irish and Native American descent and a father whose parents were Danish immigrants, Madsen turned to acting after his parents' 1960s divorce sent his mother, on critic Roger Ebert's encouragement, toward a writing career; he apprenticed under John Malkovich at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. His first serious role came in 1989's Kill Me Again opposite Val Kilmer. He became one of cinema's most memorable villains as Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs -- having turned down the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction -- and the collaboration continued through Budd in the Kill Bill films and Joe Gage in The Hateful Eight. He stepped outside that tough-guy image as the kindly foster father in Free Willy, and appeared in films such as Donnie Brasco and Sin City as well as voicing characters in video games including Grand Theft Auto III and the Dishonored series. Across nearly 300 credits he also published several books of poetry and worked as a photographer. He had six children; his son Hudson died by suicide in 2022, and his sister Virginia Madsen is also an actress. In 2024 he was arrested on a domestic battery charge involving his wife. He died of a heart attack at his Malibu home on July 3, 2025, at 67; his ashes were interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.