Michael Madsen, who starred in Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, dies aged 67 | Ents & Arts News

Actor Michael Madsen, who starred in a number of Quentin Tarantino films, has died at the age of 67.

Chicago-born Madsen died on Thursday morning from cardiac arrest, his manager, Ron Smith said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Watch Commander Christopher Jauregui said he was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, on Thursday morning and pronounced dead.

He appeared in dozens of films during a career that spanned more than 40 years, with screen credits including Thelma and Louise, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco and Sin City.

But he was well known for his collaborations with Tarantino, who cast him in Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Tributes poured in for Madsen, whose career started in the 80s.

Film director Joe Russo posted a picture of Madsen in Reservoir Dogs and said on X: “Michael Madsen ALWAYS had bite. RIP.”

A statement by managers Susan Ferris and Ron Smith, and publicist Liz Rodriguez, praised him as “one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors”.

The statement reads: “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.

“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.”

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.”