Axel Madsen (May 27, 1930 – April 23, 2007) was a

Danish-American Danish Americans () are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danes, Danish origin or descent. Most Danes who came to the United States after 1865 did so ...

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. Born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and raised in Paris, Madsen turned from music to writing in the early 1950s, initially for the Paris edition of the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

''. In 1956 he moved to Canada and began working for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

. He moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s and began writing biographies.

Books

Madsen wrote on topics such as cross country truck drivers and the

CBS news CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

magazine "

60 minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

". He was best known for his biographies of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

celebrities, fashion pioneers, and business titans. Biographies included

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career, she was known for her strong, realistic screen p ...

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and Businessperson, businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with populari ...

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting History of opiu ...

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

, Yves St. Laurent,

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

William C. Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, founder of General Motors and co-founder of Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple brands – ...

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born American film director and producer. Known for his work in numerous genres over five decades, he received numerous awards and accolades, including three Aca ...

, and

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

. In 1980, he wrote a science fiction novel called ''Unisave''. Partial list of books published: * 1969 : ''Billy Wilder'' * 1973 : ''William Wyler: the authorized biography'' * 1975 : ''The new Hollywood; American movies in the '70s'' * 1977 : ''Hearts and minds : the common journey of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre'' * 1976 : ''Malraux : a biography'' * 1978 : ''John Huston: a biography'' * 1979 : ''Living for design : the Yves Saint Laurent story'' * 1980 : ''Private power : multinational corporations for the survival of our planet'' * 1980 : ''Unisave'' * 1982 : ''Open road : truckin' on the biting edge'' * 1984 : ''60 Minutes: The Power and Politics of America’s Most Popular TV News Show'' * 1986 : ''Cousteau : an unauthorized biography'' * 1989 : ''Gloria and Joe'' * 1989 : ''Silk roads: : the Asian adventures of Clara and André Malraux'' * 1989 : ''Sonia Delaunay: artist of the lost generation'' * 1990 : ''Coco Chanel : a biography'' * 1995 : ''Stanwyck: A Biography'' * 1996 : ''The Sewing Circle : Hollywood's greatest secret : female stars who loved other women'' * 1999 : ''The deal maker : how William C. Durant made General Motors'' * 2001 : ''John Jacob Astor : America's first multimillionaire'' * 2002 : ''The Marshall Fields''

Family

Madsen was married to Midori.

Death

He died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

at the age of 76.Noland, Claire (April 29, 2007). Axel Madsen, 76; writer chronicled the lives of celebrities, business giants. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

References

;Sources
LA Times obituary
1930 births 2007 deaths American male journalists Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California Writers from Copenhagen Journalists from Paris Journalists from Greater Los Angeles Danish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers American male biographers {{US-bio-writer-stub