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- Michael Madsen, 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2' actor, dies at 67</p>
<p>Daniel Arkin July 3, 2025 at 6:08 PM</p>
<p>Michael Madsen, the gravel-voiced character actor best known for playing sneering tough guys in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," died Thursday morning from cardiac arrest, according to his manager, Ron Smith.</p>
<p>He was 67.</p>
<p>In an acting career spanning more than 40 years, Madsen racked up dozens of screen roles. He was best known for his collaborations with Tarantino, who cast him as a psychotic thief in "Reservoir Dogs" and a washed-up hitman in "Kill Bill: Vol. 2."</p>
<p>"Reservoir Dogs," one of the seminal independent films of the 1990s, shocked audiences with its graphic violence, including a scene in which Madsen's character, Mr. Blonde, cuts off a police officer's ear while dancing to "Stuck in the Middle With You."</p>
<p>Michael Madsen at an event in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 21, 2014. (Jerod Harris / Getty Images file)</p>
<p>Madsen's other notable big-screen credits include "The Doors," "Thelma & Louise" and "Donnie Brasco." Tarantino included him in the ensemble casts of the bloody Western "The Hateful Eight" and the 1969-set "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."</p>
<p>In addition to appearing in film and television projects, Madsen played voice roles in video games such as "Grand Theft Auto III," the "Dishonored" series and "Crime Boss: Rockay City." He also published poetry and photography.</p>
<p>Michael Madsen was born in Chicago on Sept. 25, 1957, to a firefighter father and filmmaker mother; one of his siblings is the Oscar-nominated actor Virginia Madsen.</p>
<p>He got his professional start working at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, where he apprenticed under John Malkovich. The experience led to small early roles in 1980s films like "WarGames" and "The Natural."</p>
<p>Madsen eventually broke through with "Reservoir Dogs," a low-budget crime thriller that launched Tarantino's career and helped transform the Sundance Film Festival into a Hollywood hot spot.</p>
<p>The film also earned Madsen an indelible place in film history. The sadistic and trigger-happy Mr. Blonde was one of the 400 nominees for the American Film Institute's list of the all-time greatest movie villains.</p>
<p>Roger Ebert praised Madsen's performance in an otherwise mixed review of "Reservoir Dogs."</p>
<p>"One of the discoveries in the movie is Madsen, who has done a lot of acting over the years ... but here emerges with the kind of really menacing screen presence only a few actors achieve; he can hold his own with the fearsome [Lawrence] Tierney, and reminds me a little of a very mean Robert De Niro," Ebert wrote in his review.</p>
<p>Madsen was originally lined up to play John Travolta's role in Tarantino's era-defining "Pulp Fiction," but he dropped out to appear in Kevin Costner's "Wyatt Earp" instead — a choice he said he came to regret.</p>
<p>Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" allowed Madsen to flex his dramatic muscles as Budd, a former elite assassin who eventually finds himself working as a low-rent bouncer and living in a trailer.</p>
<p>He worked steadily throughout his career, acting in various small-scale projects but occasionally appearing in high-profile releases, such as the James Bond franchise entry "Die Another Day" and the graphic novel adaptation "Sin City."</p>
<p>Madsen was married three times, most recently to DeAnna Morgan. He is survived by four children, including actor Christian Madsen; another son, Hudson, died in 2022.</p>
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