Virginia Madsen
| Virginia Madsen | |
|---|---|
Madsen at the 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival
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| Born | Virginia G. Madsen[1] September 11, 1961 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse(s) | Danny Huston (m. 1989; div. 1992) |
| Partner(s) | Antonio Sabàto, Jr. (1993–98) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Elaine Madsen (mother) |
| Relatives | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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| Website | www.virginia-madsen.org |
Virginia G. Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and producer. She made her film debut in Class (1983), which was filmed in her native Chicago. She soon moved to Los Angeles. In 1984, David Lynch cast her in the science fiction film Dune as Princess Irulan. Madsen was then cast in a series of successful teen movies, including Electric Dreams (1984), Modern Girls (1986), and Fire with Fire (1986).
She is most known for her role as Helen Lyle in Candyman (1992); and for her performance as Maya in Alexander Payne's film Sideways (2004), for which she received numerous awards and nominations, including nominations for the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other film appearances include Long Gone (1987), Gotham (1988), The Hot Spot (1990), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), The Rainmaker (1997), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), Red Riding Hood (2011), and All the Wilderness (2014).
Contents
Early life
Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Elaine Madsen (née Elaine Loretta Melson), an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and author, and Calvin Madsen, a fireman.[2] Madsen's parents divorced in the late 60s, and her mother left a career in finance to pursue a career in arts, encouraged by film critic Roger Ebert.[3] Madsen's siblings are Cheryl Madsen, an entrepreneur, and actor Michael Madsen. Her paternal grandparents were Danish, and her mother has English, Irish, Scottish, German, and distant Native American ancestry.[4] Madsen is a graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.[5]
She later attended the Ted Liss Acting Studio in Chicago, and Harand Camp Adult Theater Seminar in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Of her experience with Liss, she said: "I had wanted to join his class since I was 12. It was well worth the wait because I don't think I could have got that sort of training anywhere else especially in the United States... I always wanted to make a real career out of acting."[6]
Career
Film
Madsen made her film debut when she was 22, acting in a bit part she landed as Lisa in the teen sex comedy Class. She then made an appearance in Kenny Loggins' music video for "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" from the Footloose soundtrack. She portrayed a cellist named Madeline in Electric Dreams (1984), which was the first film release by Virgin Films Production Company.[citation needed] She was cast as Princess Irulan in David Lynch's science fiction epic Dune (1984).[7] In 1986, she starred as Boris' (Vincent Spano) romantic interest Barbara in Creator, which also starred Peter O'Toole.
Madsen first became popular with audiences in 1986 with her portrayal of a Catholic schoolgirl who fell in love with a boy from a prison camp in Duncan Gibbons' Fire with Fire. As beauty queen Dixie Lee Boxx, she was the sexy love interest of minor-league baseball manager Cecil "Stud" Cantrell (William Petersen) in the made-for-cable film Long Gone (1987). Also in 1987, she appeared in the music video for "I Found Someone", by Cher. She played a secretary in the 1988 comedy film Hot to Trot, and appeared as Maddie Hayes' cousin in the final season of Moonlighting. She also starred in the 1992 horror film Candyman.
Madsen appeared in a small role in the Francis Ford Coppola drama The Rainmaker (1997) starring Matt Damon. Film critic Roger Ebert said that Madsen had a "strong scene",[8] while reviewer James Berardinelli noted that "the supporting cast is solid, with turns from... Virginia Madsen as a witness for the plaintiff".[9] Madsen had a critically acclaimed performance in Sideways (2004). The role catapulted her onto the Hollywood A-list.[10]
Her first major role after Sideways was opposite Harrison Ford in Firewall. She later appeared in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion, in a key role as the angel. She co-starred with Jim Carrey in The Number 23 and Billy Bob Thornton in The Astronaut Farmer; both films released in North America on February 23, 2007. She voiced Queen Hippolyte, mother of Wonder Woman, in the 2009 animated Wonder Woman film.
Television
Madsen has made numerous television appearances including Star Trek: Voyager, CSI: Miami, Dawson's Creek, The Practice, Frasier and other series. She was also co-host of the long-running television series Unsolved Mysteries in 1999, during the show's second (and final) season on CBS. She starred opposite Ray Liotta in the short-lived CBS crime drama series Smith. She also had a recurring role in the final season of the USA series Monk.
In 2010, she landed the starring role of Cheryl West in the ABC crime series Scoundrels. In December 2010, it was announced that she will be joining the cast of NBC's science fiction action series The Event.[11] In 2012, she joined the cast of the AMC TV series Hell on Wheels as Mrs. Durant, first appearing in episode eight of season 2, "The Lord's Day". In 2013, Madsen began appearing on Lifetime's Witches of East End as Penelope Gardiner, the main villainess of the first season.
Producer
In 2008, she formed her own film production company called Title IX Prods.[12] Her first project was a film made with her mother titled I Know a Woman Like That. The film is a documentary about the lives of older women. On the creation of the film, she said her mother's active lifestyle was an inspiration to start filming.
"My mother's level of activity, of productivity, was exactly why I thought a project like this would work. Originally, when we put the idea together, she had said, 'I'm far too busy. I'm going to Holland, and then I'm going here and there and I'm writing my book.' But that's really what it's about."[13]
Her second project is titled Fighting Gravity and is about the inability of female ski jumpers to obtain recognition in Olympic competition.[14]
Personal life
Madsen was formerly married to actor and director Danny Huston after meeting on the set of Mr. North. They were married in 1989 but divorced in 1992.[15] Madsen was formerly in a long term relationship with Antonio Sabàto, Jr., with whom she had one son, Jack Antonio (born August 6, 1994).[16]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Class | Lisa | |
| 1984 | Electric Dreams | Madeline Robistat | |
| 1984 | Dune | Princess Irulan | |
| 1985 | Creator | Barbara Spencer | |
| 1986 | Fire with Fire | Lisa Taylor | |
| 1986 | Modern Girls | Kelly | |
| 1987 | Slam Dance | Yolanda Caldwell | |
| 1987 | Zombie High | Andrea Miller | |
| 1988 | Mr. North | Sally Boffin | |
| 1988 | Hot to Trot | Allison Rowe | |
| 1989 | Heart of Dixie | Delia June Curry | |
| 1990 | The Hot Spot | Dolly Harshaw | |
| 1991 | Becoming Colette | Polaire Sorel | |
| 1991 | Highlander II: The Quickening | Louise Marcus | |
| 1992 | Candyman | Helen Lyle | |
| 1994 | Caroline at Midnight | Susan Prince | |
| 1994 | Blue Tiger | Gina Hayes | |
| 1995 | The Prophecy | Katherine | |
| 1996 | Just Your Luck | Kim | |
| 1996 | Ghosts of Mississippi | Dixie DeLaughter | |
| 1997 | The Rainmaker | Jackie Lemanczyk | |
| 1998 | Ballad of the Nightingale | Mo Lewis | |
| 1998 | Ambushed | Lucy Monroe | |
| 1999 | The Florentine | Molly | |
| 1999 | The Haunting | Jane Lance | |
| 2000 | Lying in Wait | Vera Miller | |
| 2000 | After Sex | Traci | |
| 2001 | Full Disclosure | Brenda Hopkins | |
| 2001 | Almost Salinas | Clare | |
| 2002 | American Gun | Penny Tillman | |
| 2003 | Artworks | Emma Becker | |
| 2003 | Nobody Knows Anything! | Prison Lawyer | |
| 2004 | Sideways | Maya Randall | |
| 2005 | Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? | Cleopatra (voice) | |
| 2005 | Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild | The Beast (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2006 | Firewall | Beth Stanfield | |
| 2006 | A Prairie Home Companion | Dangerous Woman | |
| 2007 | The Astronaut Farmer | Audrey Farmer | |
| 2007 | The Number 23 | Agatha Sparrow / Fabrizia | |
| 2007 | Ripple Effect | Sherry Atrash | |
| 2007 | Cutlass | Robin | |
| 2007 | Being Michael Madsen | Virginia Madsen | |
| 2008 | Diminished Capacity | Charlotte | |
| 2009 | The Haunting in Connecticut | Sara Campbell | |
| 2009 | Wonder Woman | Queen Hippolyta (voice) | |
| 2009 | Amelia | Dorothy Binney | Deleted scenes |
| 2010 | Father of Invention | Lorraine King | |
| 2011 | Red Riding Hood | Suzette | |
| 2012 | The Magic of Belle Isle | Charlotte O'Neil | |
| 2013 | The Last Keepers | Abigail Carver | |
| 2013 | The Hot Flashes | Clementine Winks | |
| 2013 | Crazy Kind of Love | Augusta Iris | |
| 2014 | All the Wilderness | Abigail Charm | |
| 2015 | Walter | Karen Benjamin | |
| 2015 | Dead Rising: Watchtower | Maggie | |
| 2015 | Burning Bodhi | Naomi | |
| 2015 | Joy | Terry Mangano | |
| 2016 | Burn Your Maps | Victoria | In post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | American Playhouse | Lou Ellen Purdy | Episode: "A Matter of Principle" |
| 1985 | Mussolini: The Untold Story | Claretta Petacci | Miniseries |
| 1987 | Long Gone | Dixie Lee Boxx | Television film |
| 1988 | Gotham | Rachel Carlyle | Television film |
| 1989 | Third Degree Burn | Anne Scholes | Television film |
| 1989 | Moonlighting | Annie Charnock | 3 episodes |
| 1991 | Victim of Love | Carla Simons | Television film |
| 1991 | Ironclads | Betty Stuart | Television film |
| 1991 | Love Kills | Rebecca Bishop | Television film |
| 1992 | A Murderous Affair: Carolyn Warmus The Story | Carolyn Warmus | Television film |
| 1993 | Linda | Linda Cowley | Television film |
| 1997 | The Apocalypse Watch | Karin De Vries | Televsion film |
| 1998 | Star Trek: Voyager | Kellin | Episode: "Unforgettable" |
| 1998 | Frasier | Cassandra Stone | 4 episodes |
| 2000 | Children of Fortune | Ingrid Bast | Television film |
| 2001 | Crossfire Trail | Anne Rodney | Television film |
| 2001 | Just Ask My Children | Brenda Kniffen | Television film |
| 2001 | The Practice | Marsha Ellison | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Justice League | Dr. Sarah Corwin | 2 episodes |
| 2002–03 | American Dreams | Rebecca Sandstrom | 14 episodes |
| 2003 | Tempted | Emma Burke | Television film |
| 2003 | Dawson's Creek | Maddy Allen | Episode: "All Good Things..." |
| 2003 | CSI: Miami | Krista Walker | Episode: "Death Grip" |
| 2003 | Spider-Man | Silver Sable (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Boomtown | Erika Ashland | Episode: "The Big Picture" |
| 2004 | Brave New Girl | Wanda Lovell | Television film |
| 2005 | Justice League Unlimited | Veronica Sinclair | 2 episodes |
| 2006–07 | Smith | Hope Stevens | 5 episodes |
| 2009 | Monk | T.K. Jensen | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Scoundrels | Cheryl West | 8 episodes |
| 2011 | The Event | Catherine Lewis | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Hornet's Nest | Judy Hammer | Television film |
| 2012 | Hell on Wheels | Hannah Durant | 4 episodes |
| 2013 | Hatfields & McCoys | Eloise McCoy | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2013 | The Anna Nicole Story | Virgie Arthur | Television film |
| 2013–14 | Witches of East End | Penelope Gardiner | 14 episodes |
| 2015 | An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success | Karen Thomas | Television film |
| 2015 | Lost Boy | Laura Harris | Television film |
| 2015 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Beth Anne Rollins | Episode: "Maternal Instincts" |
Awards and nominations
References
- ↑ From the Nevada Marriage Index, 1956-2005
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- ↑ Madsen's opening monologue from Dune ("In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness.") was later sampled by Israel-based group Astral Projection in their tracks "Dancing Galaxy" and "Ambient Galaxy" on their album Dancing Galaxy, and by drum'n'bass artist Aphrodite in his song "Spice (Even Spicier)".
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External links
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- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from November 2010
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- 1961 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Actresses from Chicago, Illinois
- American film actresses
- American people of Danish descent
- American people of English descent
- American people of Irish descent
- American people of Native American descent
- American people of Scottish descent
- American television actresses
- American voice actresses
- Huston family
- Independent Spirit Award winners
- Living people
- New Trier High School alumni
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
