‘FEROCIOUS HEART’

Virginia Madsen Mourns: ‘I Miss My Big Brother’ Michael

The Oscar nominee is the younger sister of the late ‘Reservoir Dogs’ star Michael Madsen.

Virginia Madsen is mourning her famous older brother. Michael Madsen, best known for starring in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, was found unresponsive at his home in Malibu on Thursday morning and pronounced dead by paramedics. He was 67. In a statement shortly after his death, Virginia, 63, told Variety, “I’ll miss our inside jokes, the sudden laughter, the sound of him. I’ll miss the boy he was before the legend; I miss my big brother.” Born to author and filmmaker Elaine Madsen, 93, the famous siblings appeared together on-screen in the 2007 mockumentary Being Michael Madsen, playing fictionalized versions of themselves. “We’re not mourning a public figure,” the Sideways star told Variety. “We’re not mourning a myth—but flesh and blood and ferocious heart. Who stormed through life loud, brilliant, and half on fire. Who leaves us echoes— gruff, brilliant, unrepeatable—half legend, half lullaby.” The Oscar nominee added that her family will eventually share “how we plan to celebrate [Michael’s] life.” In addition to his sister, Madsen is survived by his mother; wife DeAnna; sons Christian, Max, Kalvin, and Luke; and daughter Jessica. His youngest son, Hudson, died in 2022.