Post by sidewinder on Mar 26, 2005 15:50:31 GMT -5
I can't remember where this topic was brought up but I had the SC article and thought I'd post it up for everyone. Because the article was so long, I had to post it as two different messages. Hope you enjoy....
MICHAEL MADSEN - SECOND CHANCES
Age: 44
Occupation: Film actor, working in 46 motion pictures in 18 years. Film credits include: Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy (I&II), Thelma and Louise, Donnie Brasco, Wyatt Earp, The Getaway, Kill Me Again, The Natural, Mulholland Falls. Best Emerging Actor Award, Universal Studios. Best Actor, Spirit Awards, Author and Poet, Burning in Paradise. Married with five children (4 sons, and a stepson)
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Education: Graduate of Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL
Delinquency History: Began with breaking into cars and auto-theft. Later arrested for reckless driving, driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Spent time in adult jails as juvenile. Arrested at age 20 for burglary, pled guilty, and was released contingent on a promise to join the Marines.
"I knew that I was doing something that was wrong, and I was gonna have to get in trouble for it. And I knew that there was no way in the world that I could ever talk my way out of it. It was a really terribly lonely, empty feeling."
At age 21, Michael Madsen finally realized that he could no longer evade the criminal justice system. He and his friend Mark, during a crime spree in Arizona, had finally been caught. Michael recalls seeing the headlights of the police cars at the sporting goods store he and Mark were robbing; "I realized our situation, and how far out of touch we had both really gotten." Trying to escape, Mark pushed Michael by his feet out through a ceiling vent, but as soon as he popped his head out onto the roof, Michael saw a police officer pointing a gun at his head, ready to shoot. "I think at that moment, it could have been over for me," he says.
He was arrested, and for the first time in his life, he saw the full force of the criminal justice system baring down on him. As a juvenile he had been arrested for various things, but it wasn't until this arrest that he faced hard time. Also, this time, he was jailed with two other criminals; one doing time for murder, the other for drugs. Only then did he realize that he did not belong in jail, and that the "thug life" wasn't for him. Ironically, the second chances he received as youth and young man allowed him to become a well regarded actor, who specializes in playing criminals and thugs he once came close to becoming in real life.
His real crime story began at a very tender age. In the fourth grade, Madsen was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD), and forced to take Ridilin. Instead of taking the pills, Madsen would hide them under his tongue, and spit them out later. Eventually the school and his parents caught on to his trick, and they made him stick out his tongue before he could leave. Michael was often a behavioral problem in school. His father was emotionally battering to the entire family and was not understanding of Michael's ADD, nor his poor grades. But his father, who worked as a fireman, did as much as he could to support the family, even after he and Michael's mother divorced.
For the first five years after the divorce, Michael lived with his mother and sisters in only one apartment in Evanston , IL. After his parents divorced, Mike felt the vacuum in his life. "I always figured that my father was never going to appreciate anything I did," he says. In his collection of poetry, "Burning in Paradise", Madsen wrote about his stormy relationship with his father:
"One million tears over 35 years....I remember my father hitting me in the face, and falling to the floor with the bright lights flashing in my head.....My father rolling up the window of his brown Dodge and driving away on Christmas day." Around age 12, Michael started drifting towards trouble. Soon after his father left the home, Madsen began acting up in school, making jokes, bothering friends, and throwing things. Later, he began sneaking out of the house, and with friends, breaking into cars. He remembers the school intervening, but nobody ever talked to him about the problems. He described feeling like a "nonentity in the room."
But even as a petty delinquent with poor grades, Madsen realized his passion for the arts. His mother tried to encourage him as much as possible, althoughs he did not believe that arts would ever get him anywhere in life. His father did not encourage his interest, and would have been happy if Madsen got a stable job like him. Madsen says that he enjoyed reading, painting and sculpting, however, they weren't "tough, and it wasn't cool. And so, it was something that I didn't really make known that I was interested in those areas."
One person that did know he had talent was his Evanston , Illinois High School English teacher, Sid Lieberman. Mr. Lieberman "was one of the first people that was an authority figure who actually spoke to me, and took time to explain to me that there was some beautiful things in life." He gave Madsen books to read, and let him know that he was interested in his future. Lieberman's encouragement helped Madsen realize that his teacher was not going to give up on him. And it implemented the idea that he did not have to be a thug his entire life; he was capable of much more.
MICHAEL MADSEN - SECOND CHANCES
Age: 44
Occupation: Film actor, working in 46 motion pictures in 18 years. Film credits include: Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy (I&II), Thelma and Louise, Donnie Brasco, Wyatt Earp, The Getaway, Kill Me Again, The Natural, Mulholland Falls. Best Emerging Actor Award, Universal Studios. Best Actor, Spirit Awards, Author and Poet, Burning in Paradise. Married with five children (4 sons, and a stepson)
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Education: Graduate of Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL
Delinquency History: Began with breaking into cars and auto-theft. Later arrested for reckless driving, driving under the influence and resisting arrest. Spent time in adult jails as juvenile. Arrested at age 20 for burglary, pled guilty, and was released contingent on a promise to join the Marines.
"I knew that I was doing something that was wrong, and I was gonna have to get in trouble for it. And I knew that there was no way in the world that I could ever talk my way out of it. It was a really terribly lonely, empty feeling."
At age 21, Michael Madsen finally realized that he could no longer evade the criminal justice system. He and his friend Mark, during a crime spree in Arizona, had finally been caught. Michael recalls seeing the headlights of the police cars at the sporting goods store he and Mark were robbing; "I realized our situation, and how far out of touch we had both really gotten." Trying to escape, Mark pushed Michael by his feet out through a ceiling vent, but as soon as he popped his head out onto the roof, Michael saw a police officer pointing a gun at his head, ready to shoot. "I think at that moment, it could have been over for me," he says.
He was arrested, and for the first time in his life, he saw the full force of the criminal justice system baring down on him. As a juvenile he had been arrested for various things, but it wasn't until this arrest that he faced hard time. Also, this time, he was jailed with two other criminals; one doing time for murder, the other for drugs. Only then did he realize that he did not belong in jail, and that the "thug life" wasn't for him. Ironically, the second chances he received as youth and young man allowed him to become a well regarded actor, who specializes in playing criminals and thugs he once came close to becoming in real life.
His real crime story began at a very tender age. In the fourth grade, Madsen was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD), and forced to take Ridilin. Instead of taking the pills, Madsen would hide them under his tongue, and spit them out later. Eventually the school and his parents caught on to his trick, and they made him stick out his tongue before he could leave. Michael was often a behavioral problem in school. His father was emotionally battering to the entire family and was not understanding of Michael's ADD, nor his poor grades. But his father, who worked as a fireman, did as much as he could to support the family, even after he and Michael's mother divorced.
For the first five years after the divorce, Michael lived with his mother and sisters in only one apartment in Evanston , IL. After his parents divorced, Mike felt the vacuum in his life. "I always figured that my father was never going to appreciate anything I did," he says. In his collection of poetry, "Burning in Paradise", Madsen wrote about his stormy relationship with his father:
"One million tears over 35 years....I remember my father hitting me in the face, and falling to the floor with the bright lights flashing in my head.....My father rolling up the window of his brown Dodge and driving away on Christmas day." Around age 12, Michael started drifting towards trouble. Soon after his father left the home, Madsen began acting up in school, making jokes, bothering friends, and throwing things. Later, he began sneaking out of the house, and with friends, breaking into cars. He remembers the school intervening, but nobody ever talked to him about the problems. He described feeling like a "nonentity in the room."
But even as a petty delinquent with poor grades, Madsen realized his passion for the arts. His mother tried to encourage him as much as possible, althoughs he did not believe that arts would ever get him anywhere in life. His father did not encourage his interest, and would have been happy if Madsen got a stable job like him. Madsen says that he enjoyed reading, painting and sculpting, however, they weren't "tough, and it wasn't cool. And so, it was something that I didn't really make known that I was interested in those areas."
One person that did know he had talent was his Evanston , Illinois High School English teacher, Sid Lieberman. Mr. Lieberman "was one of the first people that was an authority figure who actually spoke to me, and took time to explain to me that there was some beautiful things in life." He gave Madsen books to read, and let him know that he was interested in his future. Lieberman's encouragement helped Madsen realize that his teacher was not going to give up on him. And it implemented the idea that he did not have to be a thug his entire life; he was capable of much more.
