Michael Madsen, the actor who was a staple in quite a few Quentin Tarantino movies together with “Kill Bill” and “Reservoir Dogs,” has died. He was 67.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division confirmed to The Instances that deputies responded to the actor’s Malibu dwelling Thursday morning and located him unresponsive. He was pronounced useless at 8:25 a.m. The spokesperson stated Madsen seemingly died of pure causes.
“Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many,” the representatives’ assertion stated.
Madsen, born in Chicago in September 1957 to a filmmaker mom and firefighter father, started his skilled display screen profession within the early Eighties however turned finest identified for enjoying dirty antagonists in his collaborations with Tarantino. He notably appeared as the ruthless, torture-loving Mr. Blonde in “Reservoir Dogs” and because the sleazy Budd within the Uma Thurman-led “Kill Bill” movies, who met his ugly finish by the hands of Daryl Hannah’s Elle Driver and a black mamba snake. “The Hateful Eight” and “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” had been Madsen’s most up-to-date collaborations with Tarantino.
Within the 2007 thriller “Boarding Gate” Madsen performed in opposition to his typical function, starring as a shady American businessman residing in Europe. “The fact is: I don’t really get an opportunity to play a role like this very often,” he advised The Instances in 2008.
“Nobody wants to put me in a suit and a tie and have me sit in an office, let alone give me love scenes,” he added. “People are a lot more comfortable when I have a cigarette in my mouth and a gun in my hand.”
The veteran actor — older brother of Oscar-nominated “Candyman” star Virginia Madsen — stayed busy till his dying, showing in quite a few initiatives almost yearly. He appeared in movies together with “The Doors,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Free Willy,” “Species” and “Sin City.” He additionally appeared within the TV sequence “Powers,” “24,” “Tilt,” “Vengeance Unlimited” and “Our Family Honor.”
Madsen had 18 initiatives within the works earlier than his dying, in accordance with IMDb. Of their assertion, his representatives stated Madsen had “been doing some incredible work” and touted his work within the upcoming movies “Resurrection Road,” “Concessions” and “Cookbook for Southern Housewives.” Madsen, who was “really looking forward to this next chapter in his life” per his reps, additionally had a brand new e-book, “Tears for My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems,” set to hit cabinets in September with a foreword from Tarantino.
“One of the reasons Michael’s work has such meaning for me is he’s writing about feelings and emotions that it seems at times the last few generations have become blind to,” the Oscar-winning filmmaker says within the foreword. “Some of Michael’s work is about family remembrances. A moment he saw his mother wrap her arms around his father’s waist, or how his sister looked in one dress in particular. Some of them are thought jazz. Some are the best recordings of the gypsy life of a movie actor I’ve ever read.”
Quentin Tarantino, left, and Michael Madsen at a non-public occasion in New York celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of “Reservoir Dogs” in 2017.
(Kevin Mazur / Getty Photographs)
He later provides: “The real journey that Michael the writer is exploring is what it means to be a man in a world where the notions of manhood that some of us grew up with are barely remembered. But then if everybody embarked on the hero’s journey, everybody would be a hero, wouldn’t they?”
Madsen married spouse DeAnna Madsen in 1996 they usually share three youngsters: Hudson, Luke and Calvin. Hudson, who was Tarantino’s godson, died in 2022.
“It’s so tragic and sad,” Madsen stated in January 2022. “I’m just trying to make sense of everything and understand what happened.”
He reassured followers that he cherished his spouse and their youngsters, additionally talking candidly concerning the lasting toll of dropping his son. “I don’t think my son is dead, I think he escaped from a life that didn’t make sense anymore,” the actor stated.
Madsen was additionally a photographer, screenwriter, producer and revealed poet. He’s survived by his mom, Elaine; his spouse, DeAnna; his youngsters, Christian, Max, Calvin, Luke and Jessica; and siblings Virginia and Cheryl.
Former Instances workers author Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
