Elaine Madsen

Elaine Madsen is an American author and filmmaker. She is also the mother of actors Virginia Madsen and Michael Madsen. She won an Emmy Award in 1983 for producing the documentary Better Than It Has To Be.

She was born Elaine Loretta Melson near Romeoville, Illinois, the daughter of Lavina L. (née Shay; 1910-2004) and Lance E. Melson (1907-1988). She has two siblings, Virginia (Melson) Osterman and Reverend Lance Melson Jr. She is divorced from Calvin Christian Madsen, a firefighter, with whom she had three children, actors Virginia Madsen and Michael Madsen, and Cheryl Madsen, who is an entrepreneur. She originally went into a career in finance, later deciding to pursue more creative endeavors for herself. In the 1960s she became an acquaintance of Roger Ebert, who encouraged her to pursue a career in the film industry. Her grandson is actor Christian Madsen.

In 2007, Madsen co-authored with Douglass Stewart a book titled The Texan and the Dutch Gas. Madsen published a book of original poems titled Crayola Can't Make These Colors in 2009. She has written for several magazines and also spent time as a film critic.

In 1983, she produced a documentary titled Better Than It Has To Be, for which she won an Emmy Award. The documentary is about the history of filmmaking in the Chicago area. In 2009, she partnered with her daughter to produce and direct I Know a Woman Like That, a documentary featuring interviews with several women over 60 and how they defy age stereotypes. Featured interviews include Rita Moreno, Lauren Hutton, Elaine Kaufman, and Eartha Kitt.

She works with her daughter's film production company, Title IX Productions. The name was chosen from the 1972 law that defends against gender discrimination.

• Wikipedia: Elaine Madsen
• Ethnicelebs: Virginia Madsen