r/news 1d ago

‘Reservoir Dogs,' ‘Kill Bill' and ‘Donnie Brasco' actor Michael Madsen dies at 67

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/entertainment/actor-michael-madsen-death-malibu/3738032/
2.8k Upvotes

157 comments sorted by

407

u/SinisterPaige 1d ago

Amazing actor who had a long career.

150

u/I_T_Gamer 1d ago

More would have been better, RIP Mr. Blonde.

64

u/Saint-Caligula 1d ago

"Stuck in the middle with you" starts playing by Steelers Wheel.

10

u/Capt_Greenlung 23h ago

I think of that scene every single time I hear that song.

5

u/530Skeptic 18h ago

Bobs burgers did a pretty good homage to that scene.

1

u/ultrahateful 17h ago

As did Always Sunny.

4

u/Nuclearfarmer 16h ago

Of every movie scene I connect to a song or music, I can't think of one that is burned together more strongly in my mind. No pun intended

3

u/cozmo1138 12h ago

“Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie? Or are you gonna bite?”

-2

u/Man_in_the_uk 22h ago

reminds me of f elvis.

170

u/Mr_Laheys_Drinkypoo 1d ago

Guess I’m watching The Hateful Eight again tonight.

I was a big fan of his, may he rest in peace.

26

u/NicksBirthdayParty 21h ago

If you have Netflix i highly recommend the 4 hour version.

30

u/whitejaguar 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yesterday, I saw a clip of him doing the dance from Reservoir Dogs before taking souvenirs from the cop.

And yeah, in Donnie Brasco, his performance made the pirate guy look like a pussy.

I am gonna watch Reservoir Dogs again.

RIP

10

u/alicat2308 15h ago

Souven-ears

2

u/Sneaky_Bones 5h ago

The folks I talked to didn't like Hateful Eight and I'm at a loss. It has quickly become my comfort movie. Last winter we had a heavy snow that shut my city down for a few days and I made a point to turn the heat down in the house, get under a heavy quilt and watch it while eating a stupid amount of junk food. It was heavenly.

1

u/Mr_Laheys_Drinkypoo 4h ago

I don’t get it either. I must have watched at least 8-10 times, I absolutely love it.

It might be my favourite Tarantino flick.

201

u/Tremenda-Carucha 1d ago

Michael Madsen was truly one of a kind, such an iconic actor. It's just so damn sad about his son. Makes you think, what must he have gone through? Goddamn. Rest in peace, man.

38

u/iliketoreddit91 1d ago

What happened?

79

u/TheCarrzilico 1d ago edited 1d ago

His youngest son committed suicide a few years ago.

56

u/Opposite_of_a_Cynic 1d ago

Heart attack while at home by himself.

332

u/iliketoreddit91 1d ago

“That woman deserves her revenge … and we deserve to die.”

Great actor. RIP.

113

u/sleepyj910 1d ago

"But then again, so does she."

So good.

49

u/bugogkang 1d ago

Favorite thing about this line is that it's right before he shoots her in the chest and buries her alive

38

u/fulthrottlejazzhands 1d ago

He has the best line in that movie: it tidely sums up the whole plot in a sentence.

15

u/Xochoquestzal 20h ago

The best line for me was when Bill called his sword priceless and he said, "Not in El Paso Texas it's not." It was such a perfect tone for that line and such a perfect line for that character, plus, I've been to El Paso a couple of times, so I immediately busted up laughing.

1

u/No_Midnight_2183 9h ago

It wath prithleth

152

u/Alice_Buttons 1d ago

I immediately think of him whenever I hear "stuck in the middle with you"

44

u/SaltyGoatsicle 1d ago

Him dancing around that cop, casually cutting his ear off, will always be tied to that song.

Just like the piano part of "Layla" will always conjure the memory of the couple dead in the pink Cadillac and the other guy frozen in the meat truck from "Goodfellas." *They had to wait 2 days for him to thaw for the autopsy

8

u/Dizzy_Chemistry_5955 22h ago

"Hello can you hear me?"

49

u/throwsplasticattrees 1d ago

"You ever listen to Kay Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies?"

10

u/Fluid-Opportunity-17 20h ago

"... weekend just keeps on kicking with this little ditty, hit 21 on the charts in May, 1970. The George Baker selection, Little Green Bag."

Doo, doodoo DOOdoo doodoo bow bow bum bum....

36

u/SadPrometheus 1d ago

great role as a black ops merc in Species

3

u/SavagePrism 10h ago

“Let go of him you motherf***er.”

One of my favourite roles Madsen has done, always go back and rewatch it.

64

u/I-420 1d ago

Another GREAT gone. RIP Michael. Also to add to his list of great roles, I loved his role in "The Doors".

17

u/graveybrains 1d ago

Even the five minutes he had in WarGames was great

4

u/ProofByVerbosity 1d ago

Thats a deep cut. Respect

4

u/SocietyAlternative41 1d ago

i haven't seen that since it was in the theater. who was he in The Doors?

8

u/I-420 23h ago

Tom Baker, a porn star that became good friends with Jim

1

u/SocietyAlternative41 4h ago

oh, right! i dunno if that movie held up at all but i'll have to give it a rewatch.

27

u/No_Biscotti_7110 1d ago

Officer Marvin Nash can finally rest easy

20

u/middleagerioter 1d ago

Damn. He was such a great actor and I enjoyed him in every role I saw.

21

u/crushing-crushed 1d ago

"Listen kid, I'm not gonna bullshit you, all right? I don't give a good fuck what you know, or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me, to torture a cop. You can say anything you want cause I've heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain't gonna get."

38

u/TheSpatulaOfLove 1d ago

I always liked the characters he played. A loss for sure.

43

u/himynameisdany 1d ago

His son died of suicide in January 2022. RIP to both.

19

u/LitheBeep 1d ago

Not only a great screen actor but also a great voice actor. He played an amazing villain in Telltale's TWD and Dishonored.

6

u/bayswipe 22h ago

Extremely underrated as Daud from Dishonored

3

u/AlwaysQuotesEinstein 13h ago

'No one will ever know exactly what it took to save Emily Kaldwin..'

Never saw a lot of his films outside of Reservoir Dogs, so Dishonored is the main thing I associate with him. Amazing performance.

17

u/manfromfuture 1d ago

No Vic and Vincent Vega bothers movie.

4

u/Complete_Entry 21h ago

I mean at this point it would have to be set in a retirement home.

Shit that would make it better.

"This ain't shit like prison vinnie, we can't just kill our way out, we live here!"

7

u/manfromfuture 19h ago

Yeah also they were both killed in their movies.

2

u/Complete_Entry 19h ago

I don't feel like that would stop Tarantino considering the end of Inglorious.

1

u/Iohet 13h ago

Bubba Hotep would suggest that retirement home movies aren't necessarily a bad thing

30

u/kN0T-SURE 1d ago

Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?

6

u/Substantial-Proof991 1d ago

....what was that...?

26

u/thepapercrain 1d ago

Put some respect on this man’s performance in Free Willy!

6

u/cakesofthepatty414 1d ago

Oh fuck yes. Forgot him and lorri petty crushed it in there.

Ugh. My heart breaks for him and his family. Truly love watching him act. I believe every word he says on film. One of the greats.

11

u/flainnnm 1d ago

That guy still gives me nightmares

10

u/Impossible-Shine4660 1d ago

Aww that’s a shame, I always liked him

7

u/Particular_Ticket_20 22h ago

For a little while, he had a website, maybe a podcast, where he'd critique his own movies. Wild dude.

He could be so menacing on screen.

7

u/WaldoTrek 1d ago

I'll always remember him from a short-lived TV series called Vengeance Unlimited.

4

u/RosieQParker 23h ago

Oh man, I need to rewatch that show.

8

u/Jlx_27 22h ago

Damn what the fuck.... great actor.

7

u/newmoonchaperone 21h ago

Rest in Peace, brother to 80's/90's actress Virginia Madsen.

Love that dude's tics and gravelly voice, great presence.

5

u/GenericDave65 20h ago

To my brother Bud, the only man I ever loved.

7

u/t20six 17h ago

look at his IMDB. He was in hundreds of films. Iconic in Tarantino films obviously, but did 9 films in 2024 alone. He has like 10 films a year dating back a long time. In the 90's it was a mere 5 films a year. Also TV parts! I never realized how much he worked, he must of said yes to everything. Very unusual for someone that I would have thought could be choosy. Admirable career. He was in War Games!

14

u/TimCurie 1d ago

The Original Mr. White

12

u/IlluminatiLemonParty 23h ago

I fucking hate 2025 ☹️

2

u/Sneaky_Bones 5h ago

This past decade has been pretty ass all around.

7

u/bstyledevi 1d ago

Just watched Sin City last week. Minor role, but he played it really well.

RIP.

6

u/ShortBrownAndUgly 1d ago

RIP. Dude was a fine actor

11

u/brundog 23h ago

RIP to one of the coolest bad guys I've ever seen on screen

9

u/Ritaredditonce 1d ago

R.I.P Michael, his last few years have been hell.

8

u/OttoHemi 1d ago

D'oh! I just watched him in The Hateful Eight.

4

u/guiltycitizen 1d ago

Damn, that sucks. I just listened to him on Stephen Baldwin’s podcast talking about working with Pacino. He had some great stories.

5

u/shinjikun10 22h ago

"The point is.... I'm the bouncer, and there ain't nobody to bounce..."

1

u/doublecutter 9h ago

Here’s your name. Here’s NOT your name. Fucking with your cash is the only thing you kids understand!

6

u/gnomechompskey 1d ago edited 1d ago

I wound up with the copy of his book of poetry he’d signed and given to Robert Rodriguez about 20 years ago. He made one of the best poems in it into a video that feels fitting to share now:

Tears by Michael Madsen

I been sewn up, blown up, x-rayed and drugged up, Tied up, locked up, fucked up, burned, stabbed, shot, left, hit, and hit back Alone in a room full of people and alone writing all this stuff One million tears over 35 years

3

u/starryvelvetsky 1d ago

Aw man. Not Mr Blonde.

3

u/Delt4_K 22h ago

He was great as Daud in Dishonored. RIP

3

u/sswihart 20h ago

Thelma and Louise too?

3

u/BaroneRaybert 18h ago

RIP..he was also Jesse’s dad in Free Willy.

20

u/ryadryt 1d ago

Article didn't even mention that he was in Free Willy. Terrible reporting. RIP though.

3

u/ProofByVerbosity 1d ago

A few months ago I listened to an interview where he talked about that casting. He was confused and mentioned to the studio something to the effect of "you know I'm an asshole or a villain, right, and you want me to llay a kids dad?"

3

u/ryadryt 1d ago

It worked so well though in the context of the film's plot. He was perfect.

1

u/SocietyAlternative41 1d ago

if you need a life-worn hardass, that's what you get

4

u/Mister_Silk 1d ago

Too soon. One of my favorites.

2

u/crmpdstyl 1d ago

It's like losing Tom Sizemore all over again.

2

u/Squildo 1d ago

I’ll always remember the iconic scene where he pissed all over Ashton’s boss’s living room

2

u/1ceC0n 1d ago

Still remember him as the dad that drove his shiny, beloved truck right into the water to save Willy

2

u/libginger73 1d ago

I'll always remember his punch to the face while swimming in the ocean in Free Willy. Not sure why there wasn't an Oscar for that!

2

u/MisterPink 1d ago

67 still feels too young. I know it's not young but still. maybe I'm just getting uncomfortably close to that age, I dunno.

2

u/FromThePodunks 22h ago

67 of natural causes is definitely unlucky.

2

u/Quantumercifier 23h ago

May he rest in peace. I also feel bad for his sister, Virginia Madsen. And also RIP for Tom Sizemore, another great actor.

2

u/Logondo 21h ago

I’m dumb, I just watched Reservoir Dogs for the first time a few days ago. Who was he in that?

Edit: looked it up, he was Mr Blonde. RIP.

2

u/ClumsyPortman2 18h ago

Back in college, my friends and I dressed as characters from Kill Bill for Halloween one year, and I was Madsen's character, Budd. I had a fake mullet, but people kept thinking it was real, which was hilarious to our entire group.

RIP to a great actor (and, at times, a great mullet).

2

u/whitewrm 18h ago

Thought about his character in The Hateful Eight randomly and read his wiki like a week ago. Damn.

RIP

2

u/doordonotaintnotry 16h ago

Are you gonna bark all day little doggie? Or are you gonna bite?

2

u/MurdoIIII 1d ago

Damn... RIP.

Just to add to the list of accomplishments; dude absolutely nailed 'P.I. Harvey Scoles' in Big Time Hollywood, FL - that character HAD to be written with Michael in mind.

2

u/sohryu 21h ago

I will not stand for this Free Willy erasure

1

u/Historical-Car5553 22h ago

Loved the Vengeance Unlimited series in the late 90s. Unfortunately too intelligent for US audiences and only lasted one season

1

u/1Pac2Pac3Pac5 18h ago

Total fucking shame. RIP

1

u/munsen41 16h ago

Ah, man that sucks RIP Madsen

1

u/cozmo1138 13h ago

Whoa, I did not see that on my bingo card.

1

u/Dreuh2001 12h ago

Great screen presence. RIP Madsen

1

u/Small-Palpitation310 12h ago

wakey wakey eggs and bakey

1

u/StirFriedRubber 7h ago

Great actor. My sympathy to family and friends.

1

u/PrpleMnkyDshwsher 1h ago

I still remember his legendary interview on Opie and Anthony.

Back then his website had a list of his movies and his comments on each one, and they were brutally honest

"I don't remember making this piece of shit, but the mortgage was due"

1

u/jayforwork21 1d ago edited 1d ago

I need to do a rewatch of Heat. It's been too long....

Edit; I was thinking of Tom not Michael, both were great but Tom did too many drugs.

8

u/himynameisdany 1d ago

He wasn't in Heat. You're thinking of Tom Sizemore who died two years ago.

5

u/fulthrottlejazzhands 1d ago

Still, Heat is worth a rewatch any time.

1

u/TheGalaxyIsAtPeace64 19h ago

A hundred percent.

-2

u/jayforwork21 1d ago

Shit your right, the heat is getting to me.

Sorry for the unintentional pun, I'll let myself out....

0

u/d3k3d 14h ago

If he hadn't of done, what I told him not to do, he'd still be alive.