Michael Madsen
Biography
Born in Chicago on September 25, 1957, Michael Madsen was an American actor who trained at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company under John Malkovich and appeared in a staging of Of Mice and Men. A small part in WarGames was his first notable film role, and he went on to play the criminal Vince Miller in Kill Me Again. Madsen became widely associated with Quentin Tarantino's films, playing the cruel Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs, assassin Budd in Kill Bill: Volume 2, and a role in the western The Hateful Eight, which won the ensemble prize at the Hollywood Film Awards. He also played foster father Glen Greenwood in Free Willy, starred in the crime drama Donnie Brasco, and had parts in Die Another Day, Sin City, and Scary Movie 4. For Strength and Honour, he earned Best Actor at the Boston Film Festival and at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.
67years old at death
- Born Chicago
- Died Malibu
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
- Also credited as Michael Søren Madsen
Movie Career
- Films
- 96
- Career span
- 42 years1984 to 2026
Genres
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A role that slipped away
Madsen was offered Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, but he declined the part, and John Travolta was then given the role.
A role that slipped away
In Quentin Tarantino's first film, Reservoir Dogs, Madsen played the cruel criminal Mr. Blonde. Madsen wanted the part of Mr. Pink, since that role had more scenes with Harvey Keitel, but Steve Buscemi received it.
Early training
Madsen started out at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, working there as an apprentice under John Malkovich and taking a part in Of Mice and Men.
Beyond film
In August 2014, Madsen appeared in the music video for "Black Widow," a song by Iggy Azalea featuring Rita Ora. The video drew on the theme of Kill Bill.
Michael Madsen movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Quentin Tarantino directed five of these films, Lee Tamahori two and David Zucker two. Daryl Hannah appears in eight of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Daryl Hannah's page
Eric Roberts's page
David Carradine's page
Danny Trejo's page
Mykelti Williamson's page
Quentin Tarantino's page
Lee TamahoriDirector, 2 films, 1996 to 2002
All films by Lee Tamahori
All films by David Zucker
Box office
What Michael Madsen's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$2.7 billion
32 of the 95 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 95 films: 32 worldwide figure; 5 us gross only; 15 never in cinemas; 43 figure not found.
- 32Worldwide figure
- 5US gross only
- 15Never in cinemas
- 43Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 80% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$745M27.7% of the total
- 2$432M16.0% of the total
- 3$181M6.7% of the total
- 4$179M6.6% of the total
- 5$159M5.9% of the total
- 6$156M5.8% of the total
- 7$154M5.7% of the total
- 8$152M5.7% of the total
$536 millionfrom the other 24 films with a worldwide figure, 20% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.