Name: Virginia Madsen

Birth Name: Virginia Madsen

Birthdate: Sept. 11, 1963

Birthplace: Chicago, IL

Part of a showbiz family (brother Michael also went into acting), Virginia Madsen moved to Hollywood with then-fiancé and fellow actor Bill Campbell in the early 1980s. After her debut at 19 as the girl who took Andrew McCarthy's virginity in 1983's Class, Madsen toiled in supporting parts in everything from the sci-fi epic Dune to unremarkable comedies to arty fare for the next 20 years. Her dream role as world-weary waitress/oenophile Maya in Alexander Payne's runaway indie hit Sideways put her squarely on the Hollywood map and got her nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.


1. She has two different colored eyes, the left is brown and green and the right is green.
2. She appeared topless in her movie debut, Class.
3. Brother Michael gave her a wooden cross charm from a bracelet of his for good luck during the 2004 Oscars.
4. A gym fanatic, she has said it was very difficult to give up her workouts to gain weight for her Sideways role.
5. Though she played a wine aficionado in Sideways, she isn't a connoisseur in real life — although she likes pinot noir.


"I didn't get to go to my prom when I was a teenager in Chicago. I didn't have a date! I guess it's the ultimate to be able to dress up years later and go to the Academy Awards."
— Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 26, 2004


Husband: Actor/director Danny Huston, born May 14, 1962; met on the set of the movie Mr. North, married October 1989, divorced 1992
Son: Jack, with actor Antonio Sabato Jr., born Aug. 6, 1994

2004: Academy Award nomination: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Sideways

2004: Golden Globe nomionation: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Motion Picture), Sideways

 

FILMS

The Number 23 - (2007) - Actor
The Astronaut Farmer - (2007) - Actor
Firewall - (2006) - Actor
A Prairie Home Companion - (2006) - Actor
Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild - (2005) - Voice
Brave New Girl - (2004) - Actor
Sideways - (2004) - Actor
Nobody Knows Anything - (2004) - Featured
American Gun - (2002) - Actor
Crossfire Trail - (2001) - Actor
Just Ask My Children - (2001) - Actor
After Sex - (2001) - Actor
Full Disclosure - (2000) - Actor
Lying in Wait - (2000) - Actor
Ambushed - (1998) - Actor
The Florentine - (1998) - Actor
The Rainmaker - (1997) - Actor
Just Your Luck - (1996) - Actor
The Prophecy - (1995) - Actor
Bitter Vengeance - (1994) - Actor
Blue Tiger - (1994) - Actor
Caroline at Midnight - (1993) - Actor
Linda - (1993) - Actor
Candyman - (1992) - Actor
Becoming Colette - (1992) - Actor
Ironclads - (1991) - Actor
Victim of Love - (1991) - Actor
Highlander 2: The Quickening - (1991) - Actor
Love Kills - (1991) - Actor
Raw Heat - (1991) - Actor
The Hot Spot - (1990) - Actor
3rd Degree Burn - (1989) - Actor
Heart of Dixie - (1989) - Actor
The Hitchhiker - Volume 2 - (1989) - Actor
Gotham - (1988) - Actor
Hot to Trot - (1988) - Actor
Mr. North - (1988) - Actor
Long Gone - (1987) - Actor
Slam Dance - (1987) - Actor
Zombie High - (1987) - Actor
Fire With Fire - (1986) - Actor
Modern Girls - (1986) - Actor
Creator - (1985) - Actor
The Hearst and Davies Affair - (1985) - Actor
Electric Dreams - (1984) - Actor
A Matter of Principle - (1984) - Actor
Dune - Extended Version - (1984) - Actor
Dune - (1984) - Actor
Class - (1983) - Actor
Haunting in Connecticut - () - Actor