Early Life
Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Elaine (née Melson), an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, poet and playwright, and Calvin Madsen, a firefighter. Madsen's mother left a career in corporate business to pursue a writing career. Madsen's paternal grandparents were Danish and his mother has Irish and distant Native American ancestry. His sister is actress Virginia Madsen, and he also has an older sister, Cheri.
Madsen's acting career began at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where he served as an apprentice under actor John Malkovich.
Read more about this topic: Michael Madsen
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“O troubled forms, O early love unfortunate and hard,
Time has estranged you into a jewel cold and pure;”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
“Life on board a pleasure steamer violates every moral and physical condition of healthy life except fresh air.... It is a guzzling, lounging, gambling, dog’s life. The only alternative to excitement is irritability.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)