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We now know the heartbreaking cause of actor Michael Madsen‘s death.
As we reported late last week, the 67-year-old actor died suddenly not long after a medical checkup. The Reservoir Dogs star was found dead at his home in Malibu last Thursday. His manager said at the time they’d been told it was a “cardiac arrest” — but no one knew anything else. However, new information is now coming to light, and it paints a devastating picture.
According to a report published on Tuesday by NBC 4 Los Angeles, the Kill Bill actor’s cause of death has officially been deemed heart failure. Now, that cause of death was NOT determined by a coroner’s autopsy. Rather, Madsen’s own cardiologist was the one who signed off on that cause, the outlet reports.
Basically, through citing Madsen’s medical history, the cardiologist signed the death certificate with heart failure as the listed reason for his passing. In turn, that means the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has officially closed its investigation into the tragedy with Madsen’s death deemed to be of natural causes, and no foul play suspected.
Related: Michael Reveals Son Hudson’s Heartbreaking Final Message To Him Before Death By Suicide
There is a heartbreaking kicker to all this, too: per that same report, the doctor noted two contributing factors which led to Madsen’s demise — heart disease and alcoholism. And that’s really sad because the actor had been working so hard to stay sober in recent months.
A TMZ report published on Monday cited insiders who said the longtime Quentin Tarantino collaborator had been sober in recent months and was making a consistent effort to turn his life around amid the end of his troubled marriage following the tragic death of his son a few years ago.
Insiders also told the outlet that people around the actor were hopeful in his ability to work the recovery program and get past alcohol addiction. The report — which, again, was published just before Madsen’s cause of death was confirmed — said sources weren’t certain if he’d been drinking again in the days leading up to his death.
Whatever those final days looked like, there’s no question the film star had been through a lot of recent personal hardship. We can’t even imagine the mental and psychological toll all that must have taken. We continue to send our condolences to his grieving family members, friends, and loved ones.
Rest in peace…
[Image via Lionsgate Films/YouTube/KIKA/WENN]
