Virginia Madsen (1961 -)
Film Deaths[]
- Slam Dance (1987) [Yolanda Caldwell]: Neck accidentally snapped (off-screen) when she falls against a coffee table after Don Opper hits her. Her body is shown in a crime-scene photo that Harry Dean Stanton shows to Tom Hulce, and the details of her death are revealed when Don confesses to Tom.
- Candyman (1992) [Helen Lyle]: Burned to death when the townspeople set fire to the junkyard where Tony Todd is planning to sacrifice a baby; she manages to rescue the baby and crawl out of the fire before dying. She reappears as a ghost when Xander Berkeley says her name five times in front of a mirror. (Thanks to PortsGuy and Germboygel)
- Lying in Wait (2001) [Vera Miller]: Neck accidentally snapped by Thomas Newton as she struggles with him, after he puts his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. (Thanks to Gary)
- American Gun (2002) [Penny Tillman]: Accidentally shot in the stomach by her father (James Coburn) on the staircase, when he mistakes her for a burglar. (The movie initially creates the impression that she was shot by a mugger in a parking lot, but a flashback later reveals what actually happened.) (Thanks to Tal)
- Scooby-Doo! In where's my Mummy (2005; animated) [Cleoparta]: Voicing a character from the past, die sometime before the events of the film. Velma (Mindy Cohn) would later dressed up a ghost version of her to scared away looters.
- A Prairie Home Companion (2006) [Dangerous Woman]: Killed in a car crash when she loses control due to laughing too hard while listening to Garrison Keillor's radio show, some time before the story begins; she appears as an "angel of death" throughout the movie. (Thanks to Alex)
- The Number 23 (2007) [Agatha Sparrow/Fabrizia]: Playing a dual role in both reality and in the story-within-the-story scenes, the fictitious "Fabrizia" is stabbed in the chest by Jim Carrey. (Both "Fabrizia" and "Agatha" die in a few dream sequences, but "Agatha" survives the movie in reality.) (Thanks to Eric)
- Dead Rising (2015) [Maggie]: Eaten alive by zombies.
Television Deaths:[]
- Mussolini: The Untold Story (1985; mini-series) [Claretta Petacci]: Executed, along with George C. Scott, by a firing squad of partisans; their bodies are then hanged upside-down in the square. (I haven't seen this mini-series, but it appears their deaths were depicted).
- Gotham (The Dead Can't Lie) (1988; TV Movie) [Rachel Carlyle]: Plays a ghost who drowned years before after falling overboard from her yacht. Though she appears "lifelike" for most of the movie, she appears as a corpse in one scene when Tommy Lee Jones discovers her in her refrigerator, and another when he discovers her lying in a bathtub. Her real body is shown in an old morgue photograph that Tommy Lee looks at in a newspaper office. (Nudity alert: Topless in her two "corpse" manifestations.)
- Love Kills (1991; TV Movie) [Rebecca Bishop]: Shot to death (off-screen) by Jim Metzler. (Thanks to Crimson Ghost)
- Victim of Love (1991; TV Movie) [Carla Simmons]: Falls off of a cliff, in a situation engineered by Pierce Brosnan. (Thanks to Crimson Ghost)
- Linda (Lust for Murder) (1993; TV Movie) [Linda Cowley]: Executed (off-screen) for killing Laura Harrington; the movie ends with some text informing us of her execution. (Thanks to PortsGuy)
- Teen Titans: The Prophecy (2005; animated) [Arella Roth]: Killed (off-screen) by Trigon (Kevin Michael Richardson).
- American Gothic (2016) [Madeline Hawthorne]: Strangled (off-screen) by Stephanie Leonidas, under the orders of Virginia's daughter Juliet Rylance. Her body is shown later when her children walk in on Stephanie as she finishes up.
Notable Connections[]
- Sister of Michael Madsen
- Aunt of Christian Madsen
- Ex-Mrs. Danny Huston