Trivia

According to his interview in Maxim magazine, he doesn't own a cell phone nor does he use the Internet to send e-mails; he still writes letters by hand.

Owned the yellow Cadillac that his character Mr Blonde drove in Reservoir Dogs (1992).

After the deaths of Lawrence Tierney, Edward Bunker and Chris Penn, he has a hard time watching Reservoir Dogs (1992).

Godfather of his sons, Hudson Madsen and Kalvin Madsen, is Quentin Tarantino.

Was offered role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction (1994) but turned it down because he couldn't get out of rehearsal for Wyatt Earp (1994). He cited this as the the worst mistake of his career.

He was originally asked to play "Harland", the man who rapes Geena Davis in Thelma & Louise (1991), but he refused the part and, when director Ridley Scott asked what part he would like instead, Madsen asked if he could play "Jimmy Lennox", the well meaning but short tempered boyfriend of Susan Sarandon's Louise. Scott initially scoffed at the idea, but Madsen got the part of "Jimmy" after having lunch with Sarandon.

Because of his strong aversion to violence, Madsen was very uncomfortable filming the torture scenes in Reservoir Dogs (1992), especially in the scenes in which he was required to hit Kirk Baltz.

In 2002 he was presented an award for his work with the Shriners Hospital For Children.

One of his dogs is "Buftea", a recent addition. He found it emaciated, wild and roaming the forests of Romania while he was filming The Last Drop (2006). Madsen gradually tamed the dog, adopted it, named it after the town in Romania where they were shooting and whisked it back to beach-front Malibu.

Brother of actress Virginia Madsen and Cheryl Madsen. Son of Cal Madsen, a retired firefighter, and Elaine Madsen.

Has worn the same pinky ring in numerous movies.

Good friends with Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton and Nick Nolte.

Announced the second greatest movie villain of all time by Maxim Magazine's "Greatest Movie Villains of all Time" for his character in Reservoir Dogs (1992) of "Mr. Blonde".

The films he acted in have grossed over 2 billion dollars world wide.

Good friend Harvey Keitel served as godfather to his son Max Madsen.

Has worked as a car mechanic, a landscaper and a hospital orderly before turning to acting.

Had a parrot called Marlon (after Marlon Brando).

Dennis Hopper wrote the introduction to his book of short stories and poems "Burning in Paradise".

His paternal grandparents (Soren and Anna Marie Madsen) immigrated from Denmark in the early 1900s.

The Boys Republic once a year gives a scholarship on behalf of Michael Madsen. Steve McQueen attended that school.

His character of Mr. Blonde was one of the 200 nominees on the American Film Institute's list of 100 years of the best Heroes and Villains. He was also the only character from Reservoir Dogs (1992) who was nominated. However, he didn't make it into the top 50.

He points to Robert Mitchum as his idol and role model. Many similarities are apparent, as both are large, intimidating "tough guys" who are generally underrated and Madsen (as did Mitchum) doesn't always appear in films for their artistic merit. They both shared a love for poetry. He and Mitchum also both appeared in War and Remembrance (1988), though they never had any scenes together.

He has a line of hot sauces.

The character of Officer Wendell 'Bud' White in L.A. Confidential (1997) was written with Madsen in mind, but Russell Crowe got the part.

He has said in an interview once that his feminine characteristic would be that he has soft feet.

Hobbies include cars and bikes.

Poetry collection: 10-Year Anniversary Edition of his poetry book, "The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol I: 1995-2005/," available at Amazon.com.

He painted houses, repaired cars, worked as an orderly in a hospital and pumped gas in his late teens and early twenties before he moved to Los Angeles.

Former brother-in-law of Danny Huston and Cher.

Close friends with actor Chris Penn, and acted as a pallbearer at the latter's funeral.

He enjoyed working with Uwe Boll on BloodRayne (2005) and would certainly work with him again if asked.

Was offered the role of Seth Gecko in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), but couldn't accept due to scheduling conflicts.

On Dec. 26, 2004, David Carradine and his wife Annie were married at Madsen's home by Vicki Roberts.

He has an older sister named Cheryl Madsen (Cheri). She's the owner of a restaurant in Wisconsin.

Won the Maverick Award 2007 Method fest, presented to him by good friend David Carradine.

For his past, present and ongoing commitment to independent film, was presented with the inaugural Rebel Award by good friend/actor Harvey Keitel at Rebelfest 2005, Toronto.

TV commercial (voice-over): Boeing Corp.

Has starred in three films as a gangster whose organization is infiltrated by undercover law enforcement: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Donnie Brasco (1997) and Beyond the Law (1993).

Married his wife, DeAnna Madsen, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

Children with Jeannine Bisignano: Christian Madsen (born 1990) and Max Madsen (born 1994). Children with DeAnna Madsen: Hudson Lee (born 1995), Calvin Michael (born 1997) and Luke Ray (born 2005).

Will Rogers pioneer award 2007.

"Burning in Paradise" won the Independent Firecracker Award for Poetry in 1998.

In September 2009, Madsen announced his participation in the Love Ride 26 to help raise money for local charities and those less fortunate. Love Ride began in 1981 and has included celebrities Malcolm Forbes, Peter Fonda, and Larry Hagman with musical entertainment from Billy Idol, Bruce Springsteen, and others. The event was to have taken place on October 25, 2009 but was canceled two weeks before the event due to poor ticket sales and a decline in sponsorship and vendor support.

Studied at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.

His mother has English, Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry, and is also said to have Native American roots.

His wife DeAnna's ex-husband is Stray Cats guitarist Brian Setzer.

His parents, Cal and Elaine Madsen, divorced when Michael was 9.

He was offered the role of Danny McKnight in Black Hawk Down (2001), but was forced to turn the role down because of scheduling conflicts with Big Apple (2001).

September 2007 - outstanding achievement award in acting at the 13th annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival.

Has lent his voice to several seasons of Animal Precinct (2001) on The Animal Planet.