The Late Great Michael Madsen

Michael Madsen, who played Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs (1992) and appeared in several other Quentin Tarantino movies, died on July 3 2025 at the age of 67. The cause was cardiac arrest.

Michael Madsen was born on September 25 1957 in Chicago. His mother was documentarian and author Elaine Madsen. His father, Calvin, was a firefighter with the Chicago Fire Department. His older sister was Cheryl Madsen, who operates a restaurant, while his younger sister was actress Virginia Madsen. His parents divorced when the three siblings were still children. When he was growing up, Michael Madsen was inspired by such films as Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957), Cool Hand Luke (1967), and The Scalp Hunters (1968). He grew up admiring Robert Mitchum.

It was in Chicago that Michael Madsen began his acting career with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He apprenticed under John Malkovich. He moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a mechanic at a gas station. He made his film debut in 1982 in the movie Against All Hope. In 1983 he made his television debut on two episodes of St. Elsewhere. In the Eighties, he guest starred on the shows Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice, The Hitchhiker, Crime Story, Almost Grown, Tour of Duty, Jake and the Fat Man, Quantum Leap, and The Outsiders. He was a regular on the short-lived show Our Family Honor and appeared in the mini-series War and Remembrance. He appeared in the movies WarGarmes (1983), Racing with the Moon (1984), The Natural (1984), The Killing Time (1987), Iguana (1988), Shadows in the Storm (1988), Blood Red (1989), Kill Me Again (1989), and The End of Innocence (1990).

It was in 1992 that he appeared as Vic Vega, better known as Mr. Blonde, in Reservoir Dogs. In the Nineties, he also appeared in the movies The Doors (1991), Thelma & Louise (1991), Straight Talk (1992) Fatal Instinct (1992), Inside Edge (1992), Trouble Board (1993), Free Willy (1993), Money for Nothing (1993), A House in the Hills (1993), The Getaway (1994), Blue Tiger (1994), Season of Change (1994), Final Combination (1994), Wyatt Earp (1994), Species (1995), Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995), Man with Gun (1995), Almost Blue (1996), Mulholland Falls (1996), The Winner (1996), The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1996), Red Line (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997), The Maker (1997), The Girl Gets Moe (1997), Executive Target (1997), Catherine's Grove (1997), Rough Draft (1998), Papertrail (1998), The Sender (1998), Surface to Air (1998), Species II (1998), Detour (1998), Fait Accompli (1998), The Florentine (1999), Ballad of the Nightingale (1999), Flat Out (1999), The Stray (2000), Luck of the Draw (2000), The Alternate (2000), The Price of Air (2000), The Thief & Stripper (2000), Ides of March (2000), and Bad Guys (2000). He was a regular on the short-lived TV show Vengeance Unlimited. He guest starred on the show Gabriel's Fire.

In the Naughts, Michael Madsen was the narrator on the Animal Planet documentary television series Animal Precinct. He was a regular on the TV shows Big Apple and Tilt. He guest starred on the shows Mad TV, CSI: Miami, and 24. He appeared in the movies Fall (2001), The Ghost (2001), Choke (2001), Pressure Point (2001), L.A.P.D: To Protect and Serve (2001), Extreme Honor (2001), Love.com (2002), Die Another Day (2002), The Real Deal (2002), Welcome to America (2002), Pauly Shore Is Dead (2002), My Boss's Daughter (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Vampires Anonymous (2003), Blueberry (2004), Kill Billl: Voll. 2 (2004), Smatyvay udochi (2004), Sin City (2005), L. A. Dicks (2005), Muzhskoy sezon. Barkhatnaya revolyutsiya (2005), Chasing Ghosts (2005), BloodRayne (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005), All In (2006), Scary Movie 4 (2006), The Last Drop (2006), Hoboken Hollow (2006), Canes (2006), UKM: The Ultimate Killing Machine (2005), When the Devil Rides Out(2005), Machine (2007), Living & Dying (2007), Boarding Gate (2007) Afghan Knights (2007), Strength and Honour (2007), Tooth and Nail (2007), Cosmic Radio (2007), Hell Ride (2008), Last Hour (2008), Vice (2008), Break (2008) No Bad Days (2008), 45 R.P.M. (2008), House (2008), Deep Winter (2008), You Might as Well Live (2009), A Way with Murder (2009), Hired Gun (2009), Road of No Return (2009), Shannon's Rainbow (2009), Put (2009), Outrage (2009), Serbian Scars (2009), Lost in the Woods (2009), The Kid Chamaco (2009), Ligeia (2009), Clear Lake, WI (2009), The Killing Jar (2010), Let the Game Begin (2010), The Big I Am (2010), Krach (2010), Terror Trap (2010), Federal (2010), The Brazen Bull (2010), The Portal (2010), Corruption.Gov (2010) Now Here (2010), Six Days in Paradise (2010), and Money to Burn (2010).

In the Teens, Michael Madsen had a recurring role on the television show Big Time in Hollywood, FL. He guest starred on the shows Bob's Burgers, Blue Bloods, The Mob Doctor, Golden Boy, Hawaii Five-0 Real Detective, Those Who Can't, Powers, Explosion Jones, Real Rob, and Dystopia. He appeared in the movies A Cold Day in Hell (2011), Not Another Not Another Movie (2011), Dirty Little Trick (2011), Loosies (2011), A Matter of Justice (2011), Refuge from the Storm (2012), Cole Younger & the Black Train (2012), Sins Expiation (2012), Desperate Endeavors (2012), Beyond the Trophy (2012), Terrible Angels (2012), Magic Boys (2012), Prince of the City (2012), Prince of the City (2012), Madoff: Made in America (2013), Day of Redemption(2013), Along the Roadside (2013), Infected (2013), The Sorrow (2013), ICE Agent (2013), Gabrielle (2013), Nomad: The Beginning (2013), Lionhead (2013), Ashley (2013), I'm in Love with a Church Girl (2013), Skoryy 'Moskva-Rossiya' (2014), The Ninth Cloud (2014), Water Wars (2014), 2047: Sights of Death (2014), Turnaround Jake (2014), A Turn in the Sun (2015), The Whole World at Our Feet (2015), The Just (2015), No Deposit (2015), Lady Psycho Killer (2015), Death in the Desert (2015), Skin Traffik (2015), Lumberjack Man (2015), Sacred Blood (2015), Flipped (2015), The Hateful Eight (2015), Vigilante Diaries (2016), The Lost Tree (2016), Beyond the Game (2016), Kidnapped in Romania (2016), Last Man Club (2016), Unbelievable!!!!! (2016), Magi (2016), Back in the Day (2016), Talons (2016), Devil's Domain (2016), Unfallen (2017), Garlic and Gunpowder (2017), Rock, Paper, Scissors (2017), The Broken Key (2017), Love Addict (2018), Papa (2018), Dirty Dealing 3D (2018), Assassins Revenge (2018), Hangover in Death Valley (2018), CobraGator (2018), Dead on Time (2018), God's Eye (2018), Trading Paint (2019), The Garden Left Behind (2019), Welcome to Acapulco (2019), Born2Race (2019), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Red Handed (2019), Conjuring: The Book of the Dead (2020), 2 Graves in the Desert (2020), Serpent in the Bottle (2020), Shark Season (2020), Dirty Fears (2020), Puppy Love (2020), and Nishabdham(2020).

In the 2020s, Michael Madsen appeared in the movies Missiya: Prorok (2021), Burial Ground Massacre (2021), American Night (2021), Every Last One of Them (2021), Christmas Thieves (2021), The American Connection (2021), Damon's Revenge (2022), Until We Meet Again (2022), Incarnation (2022), Numbers (2022), Waking Karma (2023), The Wraith Within (2023), Assault on Hill 400 (2023), The Lurking Fear (2023), Outlaw Johnny Black (2023), and Resurrection Road (2025).

Michael Madsen also provided voices for several video games, including Grand Theft Auto III, Reservoir Dogs, Dishonored,. The Waking Dead Season Two, and Crime Boss Rockay City, among others. Michael Madsen was also an award winning poet who published several books of poetry.

Michael Madsen was an extremely prolific actor, with over 300 credits to his name. If he was so prolific, it was because he was also so very talented. He may be best known for the many tough guys he played, particularly in Quentin Tarantino movies. Indeed, his best known character may be the sadistic Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Joe Gage in The Hateful Eight was on the quiet side, but still nonetheless a tough customer. In the movie Sin City he played the treacherous, corrupt cop Detective Bob.

While Michael Madsen was very good at playing very evil characters, he could play other sorts of roles as well. In the Free Willy movies he played Glen Greenwood, who was the foster father of the movie's protagonist. In the movie Thelma & Louise he played Louise's boyfriend, the laid-back musician Jimmy. In The Doors he played Jim Morrison's friend and Andy Warhol associate Tom Baker. Michael Morrison could play a wide variety of roles. What is more, he left an impression no matter how briefly he appears on screen. In Once Upon a Time..in Hollywood he appears in a clip of the fictional show Bounty Law as a sheriff who informs bounty hunter Jake Cahill some bad news. There is no forgetting Michael Madsen in the clip. If Michael Madsen made a lot of movies, it was because he was so very talented.

Farewell to TCMParty Member Peggy Tapek

Last night I learned that longtime TCMParty member and my friend Peggy Tapek, known to most TCMPartiers as "Marie just Marie" on Twitter (@d3sk) and later Bluesky (@d3sk.bsky.social), died a few days ago. Peggy had been a part of "Film Twitter" for around 15 years and she numbered among the original TCMParty crowd, "TCMParty" being a collective live posting (originally on Twitter but now on Bluesky) of movies on Turner Classic Movies using the hashtag #TCMParty. Peggy's TCMParty friends meant a good deal to her and, in turn, she meant a lot to us. She was one of the kindest, most supportive people to ever participate in TCMParty.

Peggy was born Margaret Tapek in Michigan. It was not long after her birth that her family moved to Rushville, Indiana. They later moved to Elwood, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. It was Peggy's mother, who was a fan of  Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Tierney, who introduced her to classic movies. In those days local television stations still showed movies at various times during the week, including late nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. She was still a girl when she became a fan of both Bette Davis and the classic "Sherlock Holmes" movies starring Basil Rathbone. Peggy was also a fan of everything from Alfred Hitchcock movies to the classic horror movies from Universal and Hammer to Fred Astaire movies. If anything, her tastes were eclectic. 

In addition to classic movies, Peggy was also a fan of classic television. She may well have been the biggest fan of the British TV show The Avengers I knew aside from myself, and a fan of British television shows in general. She also loved the old classic mystery shows, such as Columbo and Ellery Queen. She loved both the 1966 Batman and The Monkees, as well as the original Star Trek.

Peggy was proud of her boyfriend Bruce, a fellow TCMPartier, and my condolences go out to him. She was also close to many TCMPartiers. She would show concern if any of us were ill or troubled, and she would always applaud us for our accomplishments. I know I will miss discussing The Avengers or the various mystery shows she loved with her. Her passing will certainly leave a hole in the TCMParty that cannot be filled.

TCM Spotlight: Mythology Movies on Wednesdays in July

The skeleton fight from Jason and the Argonauts

As long-time readers already know, the first movie I can remember watching all the way through was the classic Jason and the Argonauts (1963). I have loved mythology and movies based on mythology ever since. It's for that reason I am excited for this month's TCM Spotlight, which is on Mythology Movies. Every Wednesday in July 2025 Turner Classic Movies will be showing movies based on mythology.

Some of these movies, such as the aforementioned Jason and the Argonauts and its fellow Ray Harryhausen film Clash of the Titans (1981), are fairly straightforward adaptations of the myths, with some poetic licence. Others are movies set in later eras, but based on myth nonetheless, such as Pygmalion (1939). Below is a schedule of the films being shown on TCM Spotlight: Mythology Movies. All times are Central.

Wednesday, July 9:
7:00 PM Clash of the Titans (1981)
9:15 PM Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
11:15 PM My Son the Hero (1963)

Thursday, July 10:
1:30 AM The Minotaur (1961)
3:!5 AM: Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1961)

Wednesday, July 16:
7:00 PM Helen of Troy (1956)
9:15 PM Ulysses (1955)
11:00 PM Hercules, Samson & Ulysses (1960)

Thursday, July 17:
12:45 AM: Hercules (1983)
2:30 AM The Colossus of Rhodes (1961)

Wednesday, July 23:
7:00 PM Oedipus Rex (1967)
9:00 PM: Medea (1969)
11:15 PM Electra (1962)

Thursday, July 24:
1:15 AM: Iphigenia (1977)
3:30 AM Damon and Pythias (1962)

Wednesday, July 30:
7:00 PM Down to Earth (1947)
9:00 PM Black Orpheus (1959)
11:00 PM: Phaedra (1962)

Thursday, July 31:
1:15 AM: Pygmalion (1939)

Happy 4th of July 2025

On the 4th of July, as on many holidays, I usually post vintage pin-ups. This time out is a little different. While all of these pictures are of beautiful women, one is a magazine cover. At any rate, I hope all of my fellow Americans have a happy 4th of July, even if this year there seems to be little to celebrate. 

A promotional photo of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman from the show's first season, which was set during World War II.

Olga San Juan, Noel Neil, and Nancy Porter

Technically not a 4th of July picture, but you can't get much quintessentially American than a drum majorette. This is Theresa Harris in a promotional photo for Love Thy Neighbour (1940), starring Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson.

A 1958 cover of the French magazine Cinémondefeaturing the all-American Rita Moreno.

Martha Hyer

And, finally here's Ann Miller and a really big firecracker.

Happy 4th of July!

"Born to Raise Hell" by Cheap Trick

Right now I am in a bad mood and I am certainly not in the mood to make a full-fledged blog post. Here then is a song that fits my current mood, "Born to Raise Hell" by Cheap Trick. It appeared in the classic animated film Rock & Role (1983). 

The Late Great Lalo Schifrin

Lalo Schifrin, the composer best known for the icon theme to Mission: Impossible, died on June 26 2025 at the age of 93. 

Lalo Schifrin was born Boris Claudio Schifrin on June 21 1932 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father, Luis, was a violinist with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. He was only six years old when he began to learn the piano. He was 16 years old when his classmates introduced him to jazz, and he quickly became a fan of the genre. At the University of Buenos Aires, he studied music and law. He received a scholarship to the Paris Conservatory of Music in 1952, where he studied classical music under composer Olivier Messiaen. At night he would play in jazz bands.

He returned to Buenos Aires in 1956. There he founded his own jazz band. It was also there that he began composing for TV shows and films.He served as the composer on the Argentinian movie Venga a bailar el rock (1957) and El jefe (1958). It was when jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie was visiting Argentina that he invited him to the United States to work with him. He moved to New York City in 1958 and played piano at a Mexican restaurant until he began work as an arranger with Xavier Cugat. In 1960 he performed with Dizzy Gillespie on the jazz great's album Gillespiana.

It was in 1963 that Lalo Schifrin moved to California to work in film and television. He served as a conductor on the score for the movie Rhino! (1964) and on television he composed and arranged background music for such shows as Dr. Kildare and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He composed the score for the TV movie Dark Intruder, which aired in 1965. In the Sixties, he composed the themes for the shows Mission: Impossible, T.H.E. Cat, Mannix, and Medical Center. He worked on such films as Who's Minding the Mint (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The President's Analyst (1967), Coogan's Bluff (1968), Bullitt (1968),Hell in the Pacific (1968), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows! (1968), Che! (1969), Eye of the Cat (1969), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and WUSA (1970).

In the Seventies Lalo Schifrin composed the themes of the TV shows Planet of the Apes, Starsky & Hutch, and Petrocelli. He worked on such movies as The Beguiled (1971), THX 1138 (1971), Dirty Harry (1971),Joe Kidd (1972),Enter the Dragon (1973), Charles Varrick (1973), Magnum Force (1973). Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Rollercoaster(1977), The Cat from Outer Space (1978), The Amityville Horror (1979), Brubaker (1980), and The Competition (1980).

In the Eighties he worked on such films as Caveman (1981), Buddy Buddy (1981), Class of 1984 (1982), The Sting II (1983), Doctor Detroit (1983), The Osterman Weekend, (1983),Sudden Impact (1983), Tank (1984), Bad Medicine (1985), The Fourth Protocol (1987), and The Dead Pool (1988). On television he composed themes for the shows Chicago Story, Glitter. 

In the Nineties Lalo Schifrin worked on such films as F/X2 (1991), Scorpion Spring (1995), Money Talks (1997), Something to Believe In (1998), Tango (1998), and Rush Hour (1998). In the Naughts he worked on such films as Longshot (2001), Bringing Down the House (2003), After the Sunset (2004), and Abominable (2006). In the Teens, he worked on the films Love Story (2011) and Lyset fra sjokoladefabrikken (2020). 

Lalo Schifrin was one of the greatest television and movie composers of all time. He was nominated multiple times for Emmy Awards and Oscars. His compositions are certainly memorable, particularly the theme to Mission: Impossible, which remains one of the best known television show themes of all time. A 2023 list of the "50 Best TV Theme Songs of All Time" fro Consequences of Sound placed it at no. 4. Lalo Schifrin would be remembered if it was the only thing he had ever written, but as it is he wrote so many other pieces of music for television and film.

"Impasse": A Groundbreaking Episode of Medical Center

Positive portrayals of lesbians were unknown in the first few decades of American broadcast television. At worst, they were sometimes portrayed as outright sociopaths, as in the case of Miss Brant (Virginia Christine), a sniper who kills attractive young women out on dates with their boyfriends, in an episode of the short-lived series The Asphalt Jungle (based on the movie of the same name). Although it is never explicitly said that Miss Brant was a lesbian, it was made fairly obvious. At best lesbianism might be presented as a mental disorder, as in the case of the Eleventh Hour episode "What Did She Mean by Good Luck?" and the Bold Ones: The New Doctors episode "A Very Strange Triangle." The Medical Center episode, "Impasse," from 1973, was then revolutionary in featuring a psychiatrist, Dr. Anne Claymor (Lois Nettleton), as both a lesbian and a healthy, well-adjusted human being.

For those of you unfamiliar with Medical Center, it was a medical drama that ran from 1969 to 1975. It centred on surgeons Dr. Paul Locher (James Daly) and Dr. Joe Gannon (Chad Everett) at an unnamed hospital (the "medical centre" of the title) in Los Angeles. "Impasse" starred Lois Nettleton as Dr. Anne Claymor, a psychiatrist who is called into treat a a young heart patient, Tobi (Jamie Smith-Jackson), who is proving difficult. Dr. Gannon has a crush on Dr. Claymor, and it is after Tobi's boyfriend Sam (Tim Matheson) tells Dr. Gannon that Dr. Claymor is a lesbian. That leads Dr. Gannon to visit Dr. Claymore in her apartment where she admits that she is a lesbian.

This particular scene is remarkable for a TV show episode airing in 1973 (if you want to see it, it si available on YouTube). It is made clear that Dr. Claymor is comfortable with her lesbianism, as she deals with the stereotypes Dr. Gannon, like many Americans at the time, believed to be true, No, she does not hate men. Yes, a lesbian doctor can treat a young woman without pouncing on her. At no point in the episode is lesbianism presented as a mental disorder, although the fact that it was still frowned upon in society was acknowledged.

At the time, when homosexuality was still presented as a mental disorder on most American television shows and was still listed as such in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used by the American Psychiatric Association, "Impasse" was revolutionary in its portrayal of Dr. Claymor. In his book Alternate Channels - LGBTQ Images on Television, author Steve Capsuto refers to Dr. Claymor in "Impasse" as "...American TV’s first productive, happy lesbian character." Following "Impasse" there would still be shows on which homosexuality was presented as a mental disorder and homosexuals as sociopaths, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.