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. 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. 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. Madsen is a graduate of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.

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."

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. She was cast as Princess Irulan in David Lynch's science fiction epic Dune (1984). 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", while reviewer James Berardinelli noted that "the supporting cast is solid, with turns from... Virginia Madsen as a witness for the plaintiff". Madsen had a critically acclaimed performance in Sideways (2004). The role catapulted her onto the Hollywood A-list.

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 Network 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. 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. 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."

Her second project is titled Fighting Gravity and is about the inability of female ski jumpers to obtain recognition in Olympic competition.

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. Madsen was formerly in a long term relationship with Antonio Sabàto, Jr., with whom she had one son, Jack Antonio (born August 6, 1994).

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
1987	Long Gone	Dixie Lee Boxx
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"
2016	Elementary	Paige Cowen	Episode: "Up to Heaven and Down to Hell"

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Result
1992	Candyman	Saturn Award for Best Actress	Won
2004	Sideways	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast	Won
		Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble	Won
		Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female	Won
		Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast	Won
		San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Satellite Award for Best Cast - Motion Picture	Won
		Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Won
		Seattle Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress	Won
		Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Nominated
		Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Nominated
		Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role	Nominated
		Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
2006	A Prairie Home Companion	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast	Nominated
		Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast	Nominated

Charities

Virginia Madsen supports the following charitable causes: Foster Care, Teens.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]