Michael Madsen struggled to maintain his sobriety before death, says lawyer

The 67-year-old actor died due to a cardiac arrest. Photo / Getty Images

Michael Madsen was reportedly struggling with alcohol addiction before his death.

The 67-year-old actor was pronounced dead after being found unresponsive at his Malibu home, with his manager, Ron Smith, telling Dailymail.com that “cardiac arrest” appeared to be the cause of death.

And, Madsen’s lawyer Perry Wander, who represented him for 20 years, said the Kill Bill actor had “struggled to maintain his sobriety”.

He told Dailymail.com: “I just spoke to Michael two days ago. I knew he was not well.’

“Michael was suffering from the effects of alcoholism. He had multiple stints in and out of rehab. He struggled to maintain his sobriety. He was not happy about his life.”

The lawyer also claimed that Michael was locked in a legal battle with his estranged wife over child support and other finances.

He said: “I blame her for putting in the screws over his last years of life. Michael lived a life of regrets – those regrets being his two marriages.”

He added that the legal battle caused his passport to be “maliciously revoked”, which impacted his ability to travel and work abroad.

Madsen suffered a devastating loss in 2022 when his son Hudson took his own life at the age of 26.

The star is survived by his five other children, Jessica, who he shared with Dana Mechling, Christian and Max, whose mother is Jeannine Bisignano and Luke and Kalvin, whose mom is Madsen’s wife DeAnna Morgan.

Madsen was married to Georganne LaPiere, half-sister of Cher, from 1984 to 1988.

He went on to marry Bisignano from 1991 to 1995 before tying the knot with DeAnna in 1996 and welcoming Luke, Kalvin and Hudson together.

The relationship had its ups and downs, and his death comes just 11 months after his domestic violence case, where he was accused of shoving DeAnna, was dismissed due to “insufficient evidence”.

Madsen was best known for his work with director Quentin Tarantino, including classics such as 1992’s in Reservoir Dogs, 2004’s Kill Bill: Volume 2, 2015’s The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was released in 2019.