Axel Madsen

Madsen wrote on topics such as cross country truck drivers and the CBS news magazine "60 minutes". He was best known for his biographies of Hollywood celebrities, fashion pioneers, and business titans. Biographies included Billy Wilder, Barbara Stanwyck, Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo, John Jacob Astor, Jacques Cousteau, Yves St. Laurent, André Malraux, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, William C. Durant, William Wyler, and John Huston. In 1980, he wrote a science fiction novel called Unisave.

Partial list of books published:

• 1969 : Billy Wilder{{cite book |title=Billy Wilder |date=1969 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |url=https://archive.org/details/billywilder00mads |oclc=3520}}

• 1973 : William Wyler: the authorized biography {{cite book |title=William Wyler: the authorized biography |date=1973 |publisher=New York, Crowell |isbn=978-0-690-00083-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/williamwylerauth0000mads}}

• 1975 : The new Hollywood; American movies in the '70s{{cite book |title=The new Hollywood; American movies in the '70s |date=1975 |publisher=New York, Crowell |isbn=978-0-690-00538-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/newhollywoodamer0000mads/page/n5/mode/2up}}

• 1977 : Hearts and minds : the common journey of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre{{cite book |title=Hearts and minds : the common journey of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre |date=1977 |publisher=New York : Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-03206-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/heartsmindscommo00mads}}

• 1976 : Malraux : a biography{{cite book |title=Malraux : a biography |date=1976 |publisher=New York : Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-03075-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/malrauxbiography00mads/page/n5/mode/2up}}

• 1978 : John Huston: a biography {{cite book |title=John Huston |date=1978 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-385-11070-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/johnhuston0000mads}}

• 1979 : Living for design : the Yves Saint Laurent story {{cite book |title=Living for design : the Yves Saint Laurent story |date=1979 |publisher=Delacorte Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-440-05358-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/livingfordesigny00mads}}

• 1980 : Private power : multinational corporations for the survival of our planet {{cite book |title=Private power : multinational corporations for the survival of our planet |date=1980 |location=New York |publisher=W. Morrow |isbn=978-0-688-03735-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/privatepowermult00mads/page/n9/mode/2up}}

• 1980 : Unisave{{cite book |title=Unisave |date=1980 |publisher=Ace Books |location=New York |oclc=9105893}}

• 1982 : Open road : truckin' on the biting edge {{cite book |title=Open road : truckin' on the biting edge |date=1982 |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |location=San Diego |isbn=978-0-15-170029-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/openroadtruckino00mads}}

• 1984 : 60 Minutes: The Power and Politics of America’s Most Popular TV News Show{{cite book |title=60 Minutes: The Power and Politics of America's Most Popular TV News Show |year=1984 |isbn=039608401X |pages=255 |url=https://archive.org/details/60minutespower00mads}}

• 1986 : Cousteau : an unauthorized biography{{cite book |last1=Madsen |first1=Axel |title=Cousteau: an unauthorized biography |date=1986 |publisher=Beaufort Books |location=New York |isbn=0825303869 |url=https://archive.org/details/cousteauunauthor00mads}}

• 1989 : Gloria and Joe {{cite book |title=Gloria and Joe |date=1989 |publisher=New York : Berkley Books |isbn=978-0-425-11538-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/gloriajoe00alex}}

• 1989 : Silk roads: : the Asian adventures of Clara and André Malraux{{cite book |title=Silk roads: : the Asian adventures of Clara and André Malraux |date=1989 |publisher=Pharos Books |isbn=978-0-88687-433-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/silkroadsasianad00mads}}

• 1989 : Sonia Delaunay: artist of the lost generation{{cite book |title=Sonia Delaunay: artist of the lost generation |date=1989 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |isbn=0070394571 |oclc=19741251 |url=https://archive.org/details/soniadelaunayart0000mads}}

• 1990 : Coco Chanel : a biography{{cite book |title=Coco Chanel : a biography |date=1990 |publisher=London : Bloomsbury |isbn=978-0-7475-0762-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/cocochanelbiogra0000mads}}Published with the title {{cite book |title=Chanel : a woman of her own |date=1990 |publisher=New York : H. Holt |isbn=978-0-8050-0961-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/chanel00axel/page/n5/mode/2up}}

• 1995 : Stanwyck: A Biography{{cite book |title=Stanwyck: A Biography |date=October 1995 |publisher=Harpercollins |isbn=978-0-06-109067-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/bwb_P8-BNP-008}}

• 1996 : The Sewing Circle : Hollywood's greatest secret : female stars who loved other women{{cite book |title=The Sewing Circle : Hollywood's greatest secret : female stars who loved other women |date=1996 |publisher=London : Robson |isbn=978-1-86105-044-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/sewingcircleholl0000mads}}

• 1999 : The deal maker : how William C. Durant made General Motors{{cite book |title=The deal maker : how William C. Durant made General Motors |date=1999 |publisher=New York : Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-28327-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/dealmakerhowwill0000mads_e3t3}}

• 2001 : John Jacob Astor : America's first multimillionaire{{cite book |title=John Jacob Astor : America's first multimillionaire |date=2001 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=New York |isbn=0471385034 |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/49569252}}

• 2002 : The Marshall Fields{{cite book |title=The Marshall Fields |date=2002 |publisher=J. Wiley |location=New York |isbn=978-0-471-02493-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/marshallfieldsev00axel}}

Madsen was married to Midori.

He died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 76.{{cite web|last=Noland|first=Claire|title=Axel Madsen, 76; writer chronicled the lives of celebrities, business giants|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-29-me-madsen29-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=29 April 2007 |access-date=24 April 2013}}Noland, Claire (April 29, 2007). Axel Madsen, 76; writer chronicled the lives of celebrities, business giants. Los Angeles Times

{{reflist}}

;Sources

• [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-29-me-madsen29-story.html LA Times obituary]

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Category:1930 births

Category:2007 deaths

Category:American male journalists

Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California

Category:Writers from Copenhagen

Category:Journalists from Paris

Category:Journalists from Greater Los Angeles

Category:Danish emigrants to the United States

Category:20th-century American biographers

Category:20th-century American journalists

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:American male biographers

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