Michael Madsen was born on September 25, 1958. He learned his acting craft at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where one of his teachers was John Malkovich.

He made his debut in 1982 in the film"Against All Hope". Since then, he has regularly appeared in small roles, mainly as gangsters, psychopaths or con men. In 1991, he starred in the drama"Thelma and Louise" by Ridley Scott. A year later, he played Victor Vega in Quentin Tarantino's"Reservoir Dogs". It was this role that brought him the greatest popularity.

Thanks to her, Madsen was hired for two parts of"Free Willy" (1993 and 1995), the western"Wyatt Earp" and the science fiction thriller "Species".

In 1997, he played the head of a mafia family in the gangster film"Donnie Brasco". Around the same time, he began appearing in cheap action and horror films, released directly to video and later DVD. Occasionally, however, he managed to appear in big-budget productions, such as Tarantino's two parts of"Kill Bill" (2003 and 2004) and Robert Rodriguez's comic book adaptation "Sin City" (2005).

His first success after many years was his role in Tarantino's last film - the western"The Hateful Eight" (2015).

Michael Madsen died in his home

The actor was found unconscious early this morning in his Malibu home. He was 67 years old.

Police responded to the call early Thursday morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene and initially reported as having died of natural causes. The actor's manager said Madsen died of cardiac arrest.

“Michael Madsen has done incredible work on independent films over the past two years, including the upcoming features Resurrection Road, Concessions and Cookbook for Southern Housewives, and was really looking forward to this next chapter in his life,” said managers Susan Ferris and Ron Smith and spokeswoman Liz Rodriguez.

The actor planned to release his own book titled"Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems."