Michael Madsen

Born: 25 September 1958
Where: Chicago, Illinois, USA

After a steady if unflashy career Madsen was catapulted into a limelight as the brutal Mr Blonde in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

The scene where he slices the ear off an adversary to the strains of Stealer's Wheel's Stuck in the Middle With You is destined to go down in movie history as a classic.

However, away from villainous roles he also impressed as a loving father in Free Willy and Susan Sarandon's caring husband in Thelma & Louise.

As a rebellious teenager growing up in Chicago, he sought refuse in old films and theatre as was persuaded to act by a performance of Of Mice And Men.

After a series of dead-end jobs repairing cars and working in hospitals, he decamped to LA and landed small roles in Miami Vice, Cagney & Lacey and St Elsewhere.

He made his feature debut in 1983's WarGames, which he followed with The Natural, TV mini-series War & Remembrance and The Doors.

After Thelma & Louise he landed the iconic role of Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs and steady stream of major picture parts has followed.

These include Free Willy, the gentle Virgil Earp opposite Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp and Donnie Brasco.

Dividing his time between TV movies and the big screen, he had to turn down the part of Vega in Pulp Fiction because of rehearsal obligations.

However, he was available to take up the role of deadly assassin Sidewinder in Tarantino's Kill Bill alongside David Carradine and Uma Thurman.