Michael Madsen

Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1957)[1][2] is an American actor, producer, director, writer, poet and photographer. Known for playing “charming, careless, terrifying bastards”,[3] he has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino.

Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Elaine Loretta Madsen (née Melson; born 1932), was a filmmaker and author. His father, Calvin Christian Madsen (1927–2015), was a World War II Navy veteran and a firefighter with the Chicago Fire Department.[4] His parents divorced in the 1960s, and his mother left the financial world to pursue a career in the arts, encouraged by film critic Roger Ebert. His siblings are Cheryl Madsen, an entrepreneur, and Academy Award nominee Virginia Madsen.[5] Madsen’s paternal grandparents were Danish, while his mother is of English, German, Irish, Native American and Scottish ancestry.[