Chicago native Michael Madsen, known for roles in 'Reservoir Dogs,' 'Kill Bill' films, dies at 67

MALIBU, Calif. — Michael Madsen, whose menacing characters in “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill” made him a standout in Quentin Tarantino’s films, has died. He was 67.

Madsen was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, on Thursday morning and pronounced dead, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Watch Commander Christopher Jauregui said. He is believed to have died of natural causes and authorities do not suspect any foul play was involved. Madsen’s manager Ron Smith said cardiac arrest was the apparent cause.

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Madsen’s career spanned more than 300 credits stretching back to the early 1980s, many in low-budget films. But 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.”

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He would become a Tarantino regular, appearing in the “Kill Bill” films and “The Hateful Eight.”

“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 this next chapter in his life,” his managers Smith and Susan Ferris and publicist Liz Rodriguez said in a statement. They added that he “was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many.”

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.”

Madsen was born and raised in Chicago.

Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney said in a statement, “I am heartbroken to hear of the passing of old friend Mike Madsen. Although I knew him years ago, it was very memorable, as he acted in a production of ‘Of Mice and Men’ which I directed. Michael was a car mechanic when we started rehearsals. He wrote long handwritten letters to me for years about how art saved his life. He was wonderful in that production and you could see his future success from the outset. He will be missed.”

In a statement, his family said:

“My brother Michael has left the stage.

“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.

“We’re not mourning a public figure. 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.”

ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.