Watch Michael Madsen Online

Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Elaine (nee Melson), an Emmy-winning poet, producer and playwright who often works for PBS, and Calvin Madsen, a fireman. Madsen's mother left a career in corporate business to pursue a writing career. Madsen's paternal grandparents were Danish and his mother has Irish and Native American ancestry. His sister is actress Virginia Madsen. He also has an older sister Cheri, who owns a restaurant with her husband and three children. They live in Wisconsin.

Madsen was nine when his parents separated and he frequently had to change schools. He began to steal and was sent to jail a few times. Madsen's acting career began at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where he served as an apprentice under John Malkovich.

Madsen starred as a psychopathic gunman who took Mary Beth hostage in the Cagney and Lacey Episode 'Heat' (first aired October 22, 1984). Madsen was cast in a small role in his first movie, WarGames (1983). He moved to Los Angeles and appeared in other films, including as arrogant baseball player Bump Bailey in The Natural (1984), a deranged killer in Kill Me Again (1989) and as the tough but touching boyfriend of Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991).

Then came a memorable role as the razor-wielding, sadistic ex-con and jewel thief "Mr. Blonde" in the bloody Quentin Tarantino crime story Reservoir Dogs. The film brought Madsen attention among critics and fans. During a scene in which Madsen's psychopathic Mr. Blonde tortures a police officer, actor Kirk Baltz ad-libbed a line about being father of a young child. Madsen, who himself had just become a father, was so upset that he had a great deal of difficulty finishing the scene. On some copies of the DVD, as Baltz completes the line, a voice can be heard off-screen saying "Oh, no, no ..." The ad-lib compounded Madsen's original reluctance to do the scene, due to his real-life aversion to violence.

Subsequently, Madsen was cast in a variety of major studio films, including Free Willy, Mulholland Falls, Wyatt Earp, Species and with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino in the critically acclaimed Donnie Brasco.

Since the mid 1990s, Madsen has appeared more often in lower-budget films released directly to video or television. Notable exceptions include his featured role in Tarantino's Kill Bill, in the James Bond adventure Die Another Day and in the film version of the Frank Miller graphic novel Sin City. He appeared in Scary Movie 4 in 2006 parodying Tim Robbins's character from War of the Worlds. He was also in the film 44 minutes: The North Hollywood Shootout in 2003.

Madsen has been in a few television series, including the short-lived Vengeance Unlimited and most recently as "Don Everest" in the poker-themed ESPN series Tilt. He was in Michael Jackson's 2001 music video "You Rock My World" and has provided voice work for several video games, including Grand Theft Auto III, True Crime: Streets of L.A. and Driver 3. He provided voice work for the movie of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as Maugrim the wolf, captain of the White Witch's secret police.

He also provides narration for Animal Planet and is heard in the Playstation 2 game Yakuza, where he voices the role of Futo Shimano, the violent and unforgiving leader of a Yakuza family. Most recently he played Sam Spade in Yuri Rasovsky's sonic dramatization of The Maltese Falcon, which also features Sandra Oh and Edward Herrmann. The production is scheduled for audiobook publication in November 2008.

Tarantino has confirmed that he will use Madsen again, this time in the lead role of Babe Buchinsky in his long-planned war story Inglorious Bastards. Madsen also is expected to reprise his role as Bob in Sin City 2.

The actor appeared in Every Time I Die's music video "Kill The Music" and recorded a public service announcement for Deejay Ra's 'Hip-Hop Literacy' campaign, encouraging reading of screenplays by Tarantino.

Madsen has written a few books of poetry: Burning in Paradise (1998) and The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. I: 1995-2005 (2005)

Madsen's first marriage was to Georganne LaPiere, the half sister of Cher. He remarried, to Jeannine Bisignano, with whom he has two sons. Since 1996, he has been married to Deanna Morgan. Madsen has six children, all boys. Five of the names of his sons are Calvin (who has changed his name to Kalvin), Hudson, Luke and his sons Max and Christian from his marriage to Bisignano. He has said that the five films that he is proudest of are Reservoir Dogs, Donnie Brasco, Species, Free Willy, and Kill Bill.

The actor lived in a Malibu house that once belonged to Keith Moon, the original drummer of The Who, but recently moved to another Malibu home.

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