Best Known As:

Gist:  Virginia Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, having appeared in several films aimed at a teenage audience. Two decades later, she once again became known after an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated role in the 2004 film Sideways. She also starred in the slasher classic Candyman.

Life Facts:  Madsen was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Elaine (née Melson), an Emmy-winning poet, producer and playwright who often works for PBS, and Calvin Madsen, a fireman.

Her first stab as a thespian was as her brother?s assistant in magic shows the two would concoct for their family. 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."{{cite web|last=Madsen|first=Virginia|authorlink=|coauthors=|title=Virginia Madsen Biography - Bio - Life History|publisher=Virginia Madsen Official Site|date=2007|url=

Career Facts:  When Madsen arrived in Hollywood, she was engaged to actor Billy Campbell. She married actor Danny Huston in 1989 and they divorced in 1992. Madsen also had a relationship with actor Antonio Sabàto, Jr., with whom she had a son, Jack Antonio (born August 6, 1994).

Madsen has heterochromia, a genetic trait resulting in different pigmentation of the eyes. Madsen has one green eye, and one half-green, half-brown eye. Her brother, actor Michael Madsen, does not share this trait, however.