Michael Madsen, Jimmy Swaggart, Lalo Schiffren RIP
By Huckabee Post pop culture guru Pat Reeder (http://www.hollywoodhifi.com)
While we were on our July 4th vacation, word came of three celebrity deaths. Last Friday, actor Michael Madsen died at home in Malibu of cardiac arrest at 67. Over a decades-long career that began with 1983’s “War Games,” he appeared in over 300 films, usually in tough guy roles, including “Thelma & Louise,” “The Doors,” “The Natural,” “Sin City,” “Mulholland Drive” and more. But he was best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino movies such as “Kill Bill” 1 and 2 and “Reservoir Dogs.
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/michael-madsen-dead-reservoir-dogs-1236446983/
Also, televangelist, author and recording artist Jimmy Swaggart died on July 1st at 90. This was not a surprise: we reported previously that his family said he had been hospitalized since mid-June and his time was short. This link has more on the story and his long and fascinating life…
Finally, last Thursday, renowned composer Lalo Schifrin died at 93.
https://variety.com/2025/music/news/lalo-schifrin-dead-mission-impossible-film-composer-1236442000/
His distinctive jazzy scores were often as memorable as the TV shows and movies they accompanied, including such films as “Cool Hand Luke,” “Bullitt” and “Dirty Harry.” He also created the iconic theme songs for such TV shows as “Mannix,” “Starsky and Hutch” and his most famous of all, perhaps the greatest TV theme of all time, “Mission Impossible.” Here he is performing a rare full-length version live with an orchestra in France in 1995…
And here’s his own story of how he came to write it. RIP to all three men…