Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill actor Michael Madsen dies at 67
Actor Michael Madsen played Mr Blonde in 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, and appeared in several other movies from director Quentin Tarantino.
LOS ANGELES - Michael Madsen, an actor who appeared in dozens of films including Reservoir Dogs and Thelma & Louise, has died at age 67, his representatives said on July 3.
Madsen died of cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California, his manager, Ron Smith, said.
Born in Chicago, Madsen began acting in the early 1980s in projects that included the TV show St Elsewhere and the movie The Natural on his way to racking up more than 300 on-screen credits.
He played Mr Blonde in 1992 film Reservoir Dogs and appeared in several other movies from director Quentin Tarantino including Kill Bill, The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
'In the last two years, Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film,' said a statement from Smith, along with fellow manager Susan Ferris and publicist Liz Rodriguez.
He also was preparing to release a book called Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts And Poems, which is currently being edited, they said. REUTERS
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AsiaOne
2 hours ago
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Michael Madsen dies at 67, reportedly struggled with alcohol addiction, Entertainment News
Michael Madsen was reportedly struggling with alcohol addiction before his death. The 67-year-old actor was pronounced dead on Thursday (July 3) after being found unresponsive at his Malibu home, with his manager Ron Smith telling that "cardiac arrest" appeared to be the cause of death. Michael's lawyer Perry Wander, who represented him for 20 years, said the Kill Bill actor had "struggled to maintain his sobriety". He told "I just spoke to Michael two days ago. I knew he was not well. "Michael was suffering from the effects of alcoholism. He had multiple stints in and out of rehab. He struggled to maintain his sobriety. He was not happy about his life." The lawyer also claimed that Michael was locked in a legal battle with his estranged wife over child support and other finances. He said: "I blame her for putting in the screws over his last years of life. Michael lived a life of regrets — those regrets being his two marriages." He added that the legal battle caused his passport to be "maliciously revoked", which impacted his ability to travel and work abroad. Michael suffered a devastating loss in 2022 when his son Hudson took his own life at the age of 26. The star is survived by his five other children, Jessica who he shared with Dana Mechling, Christian and Max, whose mother is Jeannine Bisignano and Luke and Kalvin, whose mom is Michael's wife DeAnna Morgan. He was married to Georganne LaPiere, half-sister of Cher, from 1984 to 1988. He went on to marry Bisignano from 1991 to 1995 before tying the knot with Morgan in 1996 and welcoming Luke, Kalvin and Hudson together. The relationship had its ups and downs, and his death comes just 11 months after his domestic violence case — where he was accused of shoving Morgan — was dismissed due to "insufficient evidence". Michael was best known for his work with director Quentin Tarantino, including classics such as 1992's Reservoir Dogs, 2004's Kill Bill: Volume 2, 2015's The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was released in 2019. [[nid:719235]]
CNA
4 hours ago
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Michael Madsen, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill actor, dies at 67
Michael Madsen, the actor best known for his coolly menacing, steely-eyed, often sadistic characters in the films of Quentin Tarantino including Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill: Vol 2, has died. Madsen was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, on Thursday (Jul 3) 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. He was 67. Madsen's career spanned more than 300 credits stretching back to the early 1980s, many in low-budget and independent films. He often played low-level thugs, gangsters and shady cops in small roles. Tarantino would use that identity, but make him a main character. His torture of a captured police officer in Tarantino's 1992 directorial debut Reservoir Dogs, in which Madsen's black-suited bank robber Vic 'Mr Blonde' Vega severs the man's ear while dancing to Stealers Wheel's Stuck In The Middle With You was an early career-defining moment for both director and actor. He would become a Tarantino regular. He had a small role as the cowboy-hatted desert dweller Budd, a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, in 2003's Kill Bill: Vol 1, then a starring role the following year in the sequel, in which he battles with Uma Thurman's protagonist The Bride and buries her alive. Madsen also appeared in Tarantino's The Hateful Eight and Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. He was an alternate choice to play the hit man role that revived John Travolta's career in 1994's Pulp Fiction. The character, Vincent Vega, is the brother of Madsen's Reservoir Dogs robber in Tarantino's cinematic universe. 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He performed on stage with the city's Steppenwolf Theatre Company alongside actors including John Malkovich. 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.' His first film role of any significance was in the 1983 hacker thriller WarGames with Matthew Broderick. The following year he played pro baseball player Bump Bailey alongside Robert Redford in The Natural. He spent much of the rest of the 1980s doing one-off guest roles on television dramas including Miami Vice and Quantum Leap. 1991 would bring a career boost with roles in The Doors, where he played a buddy of Val Kilmer's Jim Morrison, and Thelma And Louise where he played the boyfriend of Susan Sarandon's Louise. Then would come Reservoir Dogs. In 1995, he played a black ops mercenary in the sci-fi thriller Species and in 1997 he was third billed after Al Pacino and Johnny Depp as a member of a crew of gangsters in Donnie Brasco. He occasionally played against type. In the 1993 family orca adventure Free Willy he was the foster father to the orphan protagonist. Madsen would return to smaller roles but worked constantly in the final two decades of his career. Madsen had six children. He had struggled in recent years after the 2022 death of one of his sons, Hudson. 'Losing a child is the hardest and most painful experience that can happen in this world,' Madsen said in an Instagram post last year. He said the loss put a strain on his marriage to third wife, DeAnna Madsen. He was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery last year, but was not charged. He filed for divorce, but asked that the filing be dismissed just weeks later. He had previously been arrested twice on suspicion of DUI, most recently in 2019, when he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor. '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. 'Michael was also preparing to release a new book called Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts And Poems currently being edited.'
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Born in ghost stories, South Korea's grim reapers transform into pop culture icons
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The Saja Boys are a fictional K-pop group from the new Netflix animated film K-pop Demon Hunters. SEOUL - When the Saja Boys appeared on screen for the first time, dressed in floor-length black hanbok and wide-brimmed hats casting shadows over pale, painted faces, Ms Kang Chan-mi, a 32-year-old office worker in Seoul, immediately recognised the look. 'I knew instantly what they were,' she said. 'If you're Korean, it's almost impossible not to.' The Saja Boys, a fictional K-pop group from the new Netflix animated film K-pop Demon Hunters may appear to be just another stylish boy band debuting for a global audience. However, for many Korean viewers, their stagewear evokes something much older and far more haunting: the jeoseung saja or the traditional Korean grim reaper. The image is deeply familiar to Koreans. A pale-faced man, draped in black robes and wearing a gat - a traditional Korean hat made of horsehair and silk - has long signalled death in Korean storytelling. This is not the first time the grim reaper's look has stepped into the limelight. Most recently, on the dance competition show World Of Street Woman Fighter, the Korean crew Bumsup built a performance around the figure, donning black shirts and gat to evoke the jeoseung saja's chilling presence. In Korean television and film, grim reapers have often been reimagined as charismatic and charming figures. In the 2016 hit drama Guardian: The Lonely And Great God, actor Lee Dong-wook played a modern version of the character, trading traditional robes and a gat for a tailored black suit and fedora. The styling was contemporary, but the symbolism remained intact. Tracing the allure of Korean grim reapers So, where did this image come from? Many trace it back to a June 1980 episode of the KBS series Legend of the Hometown (unofficial title), a show known for its ghost stories. It was there that the jeoseung saja took on its now iconic appearance. 'We wanted to create a distinctly Korean image of death,' said the series producer Choi Sang-shik in a past interview. 'Since death is associated with darkness, we dressed the grim reaper in black robes and contrasted it with a pale face and jet-black lips.' But the grim reaper has not always looked this way. According to the Encyclopedia Of Korean Culture by author Kim Deok-mook, the jeoseung saja originally appeared in shamanistic rituals as a military officer, dressed in official armour. In many paintings from the Joseon era - including Gamjae Saja, which indicates one of the underworld messengers - he is depicted wearing bright red armour. He was also a figure to be feared, as his arrival marked the moment a soul was taken from the world of the living. Though he was a figure to be scared of, he was not treated with hostility. In traditional funerary rites, the reaper is regarded with solemn respect. 'Since the reaper also serves as a guide through the long and difficult journey to the afterlife, mistreating him could bring misfortune to the deceased,' Mr Kim said. 'That's why families treat him with care during rituals.' Even the number of reapers varies between tradition and pop culture. In K-pop Demon Hunters, there are five Saja Boys; in many Korean dramas and films, the jeoseung saja often appears alone, an isolated figure quietly escorting the dead. But in Korean shamanism, the number is typically three. According to Mr Kim , in a traditional funerary ritual from Hwanghae Province, families prepare three bowls of rice, three pairs of straw shoes, and three sets of spoons and chopsticks. These offerings are meant to honour the three reapers guiding the soul from this world to the next. That belief has also made its way into modern storytelling. In the hit film Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds, three grim reapers move together as a team. The group is led by a commander, played by actors Ha Jung-woo, with Joo Ji-hoon and Kim Hyang-gi portraying his companions. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
