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Virginia Madsen (born 11 September 1961; age 62) is the Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated actress who played Kellin in the Star Trek: Voyager fourth season episode "Unforgettable".

She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. She is the sister of veteran actor Michael Madsen. She was married to actor/director Danny Huston from 1989-1992, and was engaged to actor Antonio Sabato, Jr..

Films[]

Madsen made her film debut in Class (1983, co-starring Alan Ruck). The following year, she played Princess Irulan in Dune (co-starring Patrick Stewart, Brad Dourif, and Dean Stockwell. Her next film was Creator (1985, co-starring Jeff Corey, Michael McGrady, David Ogden Stiers, Kenneth Tigar, Ian Wolfe, and Ellen Geer). Madsen then starred in Fire with Fire (1986, featuring her Voyager co-star Tim Russ). The following year, she worked with another Voyager regular, Robert Beltran, in Slam Dance (co-starring Rosalind Chao, Herta Ware, and John Fleck). She has also appeared in Modern Girls (1986, co-starring Star Trek: The Next Generation guest actor Clayton Rohner, with Cameron Thor, Stuart Charno, and Mark Holton) and Caroline at Midnight (1993, with Clayton Rohner, Zach Galligan, Jay Baker, Doug Wert, and Kirk Baily), and Zombie High (1987, with Richard Cox and Kay E. Kuter.

Madsen is well-known for her starring role in Candyman (1992, co-starring fellow Star Trek alumni Tony Todd and Tom Towles) for which she won a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Some of her other genre films include Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) and The Prophecy (1995). Her other films during the late 1980s and early 1990s include Mr. North (1988, with David Warner) and Hot to Trot (1988, with Jim Metzler, Donald Hotton, Robert Towers, George D. Wallace, and Vyto Ruginis), Heart of Dixie (1989, with Kurtwood Smith and Barbara Babcock), and The Hot Spot (1990, with William Sadler and Leon Rippy).

In 1996, she co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg, Susanna Thompson, Bill Smitrovich, Terry O'Quinn, Richard Riehle, Bill Cobbs, Thomas Kopache, and Brock Peters in Ghosts of Mississippi. Also in 1996, Madsen had an uncredited role in Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood, starring William Sadler and Chris Sarandon and featuring a cameo by Whoopi Goldberg. The following year, Madsen and her Dune co-star and fellow Trek guest actor Dean Stockwell had roles in The Rainmaker.

Madsen also appeared in Ambushed (1998, co-starring William Sadler) and had a supporting role in The Haunting (1999, with Michael Cavanaugh) and starred with noted actor James Coburn in his final film, American Gun. In 2003, she appeared in the comedy film Nobody Knows Anything!, as did Paul Dooley and Ed Lauter.

Madsen is currently best known for her Academy Award- and Golden Globe-nominated performance as Maya in Sideways (2004). Following her success in this film, she starred in Firewall and A Prairie Home Companion, both released in 2006. In 2007, she worked with John Billingsley and Denise Crosby in Ripple Effect, which Madsen executive produced. That same year, she starred in The Astronaut Farmer with Billy Bob Thornton and in The Number 23 with Jim Carrey and Next Generation guest actor Ed Lauter.

More recently, Madsen starred in The Haunting in Connecticut and played the title character's mother in Red Riding Hood (2011). In Wonder Woman (2009, based on DC Comics characters), Madsen was the voice of Hippolyta, the mother of Wonder Woman (voiced by Keri Russell).

Television[]

She debuted on television in American Playhouse, but Madsen's first major TV role was in Mussolini: the Untold Story in 1985. She played Claretta Petacci, the mistress and obsessive lover of Mussolini, who eventually gets lynched with him. The Series was Nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Besides her appearance on Voyager, Madsen has made guest appearances on several other television shows. In 1989, she had a recurring role as Maddie Hayes' sister, Annie Charnock, on Moonlighting. That same year, Madsen appeared in the music video for Michael Jackson's song "Liberian Girl", along with Whoopi Goldberg.

Ten years later, Madsen recurred as Cassandra Stone on Frasier, which starred Kelsey Grammer. Her last appearance on the show, in the two-parter "Shoutout in Seattle", also featured Dan Butler, Patrick Kerr, and Saul Rubinek. In 2001 Madsen appeared in two episodes of The Practice, along with Bill Smitrovich.

Madsen made an uncredited appearance on Earth 2, starring Clancy Brown and Terry O'Quinn. She has also guest-starred on Dawson's Creek, CSI: Miami, and Neal McDonough's Boomtown (with Vanessa Williams). In addition, Madsen has starred in numerous made-for-TV movies, notably The Hearts and Davies Affair in 1985 (co-starring Fritz Weaver), Long Gone (1986, with Henry Gibson), Ironclads (1991, with Fritz Weaver), A Murderous Affair: The Carolyn Warmus Story in 1992 (with Robert Picardo and Chris Sarandon), Bitter Vengeance in 1994 (with Tim Russ and Bruce Greenwood), and Just Ask My Children in 2001 (with Casey Biggs, John Billingsley, and Armin Shimerman).

During the 2006-2007 season, Madsen was a regular on the short-lived CBS action drama series Smith. In 2009, she appeared as journalist T.K. Jensen in three episodes of Monk, the first of which also guest-starred John Carroll Lynch. In 2010, Madsen starred in the ABC series Scoundrels, on which Jessica Collins and Dina Meyer have had recurring roles.

In 2016-2017, she had a recurring role on ABC's Designated Survivor, followed by a recurring role in The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (2018), and Swamp Thing (2019).

External links[]

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