RIP Michael Madsen: On Heart Disease, Alcoholism, and Men

It can be really rough out there

Jul 11, 2025

The respectable media version: 3 July 2025, AOL.com: Michael Madsen, ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Kill Bill’ Actor, Dies at 67

Michael Madsen, the actor known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino films including “Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2” and “Reservoir Dogs,” has died, Variety has confirmed. He was 67.
Madsen was found unresponsive in his Malibu home Thursday morning, according to his rep, who said the cause appeared to be a cardiac arrrest.
“In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film including upcoming feature films ‘Resurrection Road’, ‘Concessions’ and ‘Cookbook for Southern Housewives,’ and was really looking forward to this next chapter in his life. Michael was also preparing to release a new book called ‘Tears For My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems’ currently being edited,” Madsen’s managers Susan Ferris and Ron Smith and publicist Liz Rodriguez said in a joint statement. “Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many.”

The gossipy rag version: 4 Jul 2025, RadarOnline: EXCLUSIVE: 'Miserable' Michael Madsen's 'Cause of Death' Revealed — How Late 'Reservoir Dogs' Star 'Drank Himself Into Early Grave' Over 'Pain of Double Divorce and Son's Death'

Michael Madsen is feared to have “drank himself to death” as his booze demons spiralled out of control.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the late Reservoir Dogs star’s agent hinted alcohol was the reason behind his shock passing aged 67 – and blamed the actor's two former wives for making the wild star miserable.
The legendary actor was found 'unresponsive' at his home in Malibu, California early Thursday morning. His manager said Madsen had died from "cardiac arrest."
Perry Wander, who has represented the star for 20 years, was unsparing in describing the Thelma & Louise star's troubles.
He said: "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."

And the followup:

8 July 2025, People: Michael Madsen's Cause of Death Revealed After the Actor Was Found Dead at 67: Report

Michael Madsen's cause of death has been revealed.
Five days after the Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill actor was found dead at his home in Malibu, Calif., at age 67, NBC4 Los Angeles reported on Tuesday, July 8, that Madsen's cardiologist said he died from heart failure.
According to the outlet, his doctor said heart failure will be listed as Madsen's cause of death, with heart disease and alcoholism named as contributing factors.
The NBC affiliate also reported that an autopsy will not be conducted because Madsen's cardiologist signed his death certificate, and that the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has closed its investigation into Madsen's death and listed his death as from natural causes.

I’m not going to go into issues surrounding autopsies and the lack thereof today.

I will do a geeking out special on that another time.

On Heart Disease Deaths, Alcohol, and Men

I usually look at UCD (underlying cause of death), which is the one main cause of death, such as cancer or heart disease, the top two UCDs in the U.S. for decades:

When it comes to alcohol-related deaths, though, except for alcoholic-related cirrhosis, or alcohol poisoning (which takes a lot of alcohol in one sitting… or a very stupid enema), most of the ways this comes up is in contributing causes of death, such as death via motor vehicle accident death, where somebody’s alcohol use contributed.

Note: up to 20 contributing causes of death can be listed on a death certificate. More here:

Mortality with Meep

Geeking Out: Querying the Multiple Cause of Death Database in CDC WONDER

Mary Pat Campbell

June 14, 2024

Geeking Out: Querying the Multiple Cause of Death Database in CDC WONDER

Recently, somebody asked me a question about querying CDC WONDER on the Multiple Causes of Death.

Read full story

For the following, I selected the 2023 Multiple Causes of Death database (as that’s the last full year of finalized data), and selected Alcohol-induced causes

This is what the trend looks like, by sex:

That’s the count, and here’s the rates:

Yikes. Yes, there was a huge increase in alcohol-related deaths for both sexes. Unsurprising to those who know, the rates are much higher for males — about 3x that of females.

Top Male alcohol-related causes of death pre- and post-pandemic

Male Deaths that had alcohol-related causes noted on the death certificates in the U.S., CDC WONDER Data

Unsurprisingly, liver disease/cirrhosis is the top listed cause, with “accidents” close behind.

If you’re a long-time STUMP reader, you know I detest the “Accidents” category of cause of death. The whole category got bumped up very high during the pandemic.

You might think that it’s mostly motor vehicle accident deaths, but no.

It’s mostly “non-transport accidents”.

Remember that drug overdoses (including alcohol poisoning) fall in this category, and all becomes clear. In fact, deaths from falls number higher than motor vehicle accidents in this data set.

But let me move on to heart disease, which sounds like what was involved with Michael Madsen. Alcohol use doesn’t help, contributing to all sorts of problems — heart failure, in this case.

As you can see, pre- and post-pandemic, the top 5 alcohol-related deaths were about 70% of all male alcohol-related deaths in those years.

This is likely an undercount of male alcohol-related deaths. Many heart disease and cancer deaths will not note an alcohol link unless it’s obvious.

It can take a LOT of alcohol use for it to be obvious.

Though there may be indications.