Lee Van Cleef
ActingAlso Known As
Clarence Leroy Van Cleef Jr., 李·范克里夫, 리 밴 클리프
Biography
Clarence LeRoy "Lee" Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor best known for his roles in Spaghetti Westerns such as For A Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Hatchet-faced with piercing eyes, he had declined to have his nose altered to play a sympathetic character in his film debut, High Noon, and was relegated to a non-speaking outlaw as a result. For a decade he was typecast as a minor villain, his sinister features overshadowing his acting skills. After suffering serious injuries in a car crash, Van Cleef began to lose interest in his apparently waning career by the time Sergio Leone gave him a major role in For a Few Dollars More. The film made him a box-office draw, especially in Europe. Despite suffering from heart disease from the late 1970s and having a pacemaker installed in the early 1980s, Van Cleef continued to work in films until his death on December 16, 1989, at age 64. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Hollywood Hills, California, with an inscription on his grave marker referring to his many acting performances as a villain: "BEST OF THE BAD".
Movies
(92 total)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
as Sentenza / Angel Eyes
For a Few Dollars More
as Col. Douglas Mortimer
Escape from New York
as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
High Noon
as Jack Colby
How the West Was Won
as River Pirate (uncredited)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
as Ed Bailey
Death Rides a Horse
as Ryan
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
as Corp. Stone
The Big Gundown
as Jonathan Corbett
The Big Combo
as Fante
Ride Lonesome
as Frank
Return of Sabata
as Sabata / Major
Day of Anger
as Frank Talby
The Young Lions
as 1st Sgt. Rickett
Kansas City Confidential
as Tony Romano
The Octagon
as McCarn
The Tin Star
as Ed McGaffey
The Bravados
as Alfonso Parral
Sabata
as Sabata
TV Shows
(71 total)
The Twilight Zone
as Steinhart
Bonanza
as Appling
Perry Mason
as Edward Doyle
The Untouchables
as Frank Diamond
Gunsmoke
as Rad
Gunsmoke
as John Hooker
Gunsmoke
as Ike Jeffords
Rawhide
as Fred Grant
Rawhide
as Deck Sommers
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Golias
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Corbin
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Jumbo Kane
The Lone Ranger
as Bull Harper
The Lone Ranger
as Jango
Wagon Train
as Rufe Beal
