Michael Madsen Passes Away at 66

Michael Madsen, whose menacing characters in "Reservoir Dogs" and "Kill Bill" made him a standout in Quentin Tarantino's films, has died at the age of 66.

Madsen was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, on Thursday morning and pronounced dead. He is believed to have died of natural causes, with no foul play suspected. His manager, Ron Smith, stated that cardiac arrest was the apparent cause.

Madsen's career spanned more than 300 credits, many in low-budget films, dating back to the early 1980s. However, 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."

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, Susan Ferris, and publicist Liz Rodriguez, added that he "was one of Hollywood's most iconic actors, who will be missed by many."

In 2020, Madsen reflected on his first visit to Hollywood during a handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

"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,"

"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."