Michael Madsen, best known for his roles in Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, died on Thursday morning. He was 67.
Madsen was found unresponsive by deputies responding to a 911 call at his Malibu home and he was pronounced dead at 8:25 a.m., a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Police added that no foul play is suspected and Madsen’s death is believed to be from natural causes.
Liz Rodriguez, Madsen’s representative at EMR Media Entertainment, told the outlet “we understand Michael had a cardiac arrest.”
Madsen’s managers, Smith and Susan Ferris, issued a statement after his death.
“In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film, including upcoming feature films Resurrection Road, Concessions and Cookbook for Southern Housewives, and was really looking forward to his next chapter in his life,” they said.
“Michael was also preparing to release a new book called Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems, currently being edited. Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many.”
The actor’s sister, Virginia Madsen, shared a statement to Variety following his death.
“My brother Michael has left the stage,” Virginia wrote. “He was thunder and velvet. Mischief wrapped in tenderness. A poet disguised as an outlaw. A father, a son, a brother — etched in contradiction, tempered by love that left its mark.”
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“We’re not mourning a public figure,” she continued. “We’re not mourning a myth — but flesh and blood and ferocious heart. Who stormed through life loud, brilliant, and half on fire. Who leaves us echoes — gruff, brilliant, unrepeatable — half legend, half lullaby.”
“I’ll miss our inside jokes, the sudden laughter, the sound of him. I’ll miss the boy he was before the legend; I miss my big brother. Thank you to everyone reaching out with love and memory. In time, we’ll share how we plan to celebrate his life — but for now, we stay close, and let the silence say what words can’t,” she added.
Madsen’s career included more than 300 credits, including roles in Donnie Brasco, Thelma & Louise, Free Willy, Sin City and Die Another Day.
His most memorable screen moment may have been the sadistic torture of a captured police officer — while dancing to Stealers Wheel’s Stuck in the Middle with You — as Mr. Blonde in 1992’s Reservoir Dogs.
Madsen began his acting career at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and appeared in Of Mice and Men. In 1982, he played a cop in the film WarGames, directed by John Badham.
He went on to become a Quentin Tarantino regular, appearing in the Kill Bill films, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Quentin Tarantino and Michael Madsen attend the ‘Reservoir Dogs’ 25th Anniversary Screening during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on Jan. 27, 2017 in Park City, Utah.
George Pimentel/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival
During a handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in November 2020, Madsen reflected on his first visit to Hollywood in the early 1980s.
“I got out and I walked around and I looked and I wondered if there were someday some way that that was going to be a part of me. And I didn’t know because I didn’t know what I was going to do at that point with myself,” he said. “I could have been a bricklayer. I could have been an architect. I could have been a garbage man. I could have been nothing. But I got lucky. I got lucky as an actor.”
Michael Madsen attends the Hand and Footprint Ceremony for Michael Madsen at TCL Chinese Theatre on Nov. 16, 2020 in Hollywood, Calif.
Rich Fury/Getty Images
In addition to film, Madsen also played voice roles in video games like Grand Theft Auto III, Crime Boss: Rockay City and the Dishonored series.
The Kill Bill actor was also a published poet, with collections including Burning in Paradise and Expecting Rain.
Madsen was married three times, to General Hospital actor Georganne LaPiere from 1984 to 1988, actor Jeannine Bisignano from 1991 to 1995 and his estranged wife DeAnna Madsen since 1996. He is survived by his four children, including actor Christian Madsen.
— With files from The Associated Press
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