Michael Madsen, Star Of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs And Kill Bill, Dead At 67

Actor Michael Madsen, best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino films like Reservoir Dogs and the Kill Bill movies, has died at the age of 67.

Madsen was found unresponsive in his Malibu home on Thursday morning and suffered a cardiac arrest, his representative tells our sister site Variety. "Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood's most iconic actors, who will be missed by many," Madsen's managers Susan Ferris and Ron Smith and publicist Liz Rodriguez said in a joint statement.

With a swaggering, tough-guy persona, Madsen piled up hundreds of film and TV credits over his career, including early roles in The Doors and Thelma & Louise. His breakout role came in 1992, playing sadistic bank robber Mr. Blonde in Tarantino's debut film Reservoir Dogs. The film kicked off decades of collaboration between Madsen and Tarantino, with the actor returning to appear in Tarantino's later films Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), The Hateful Eight (2015) and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019).

Madsen's other notable film work included the 1993 kids' movie Free Willy, the 1995 alien thriller Species and the 1997 gangster drama Donnie Brasco, where he co-starred alongside Johnny Depp and Al Pacino. He also did voice work for a number of video games, including Grand Theft Auto III.

On the small screen, Madsen played Jack Bauer's friend Jim Ricker on Season 8 of 24 in a four-episode arc. He also starred in the short-lived ABC crime drama Vengeance Unlimited, which was cancelled in 1999 after one season. His other TV credits included The Mob Doctor, Powers and Hawaii Five-0.