Lee Van Cleef
Actor
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".
Filmography
For a Few Dollars More
as Col. Douglas Mortimer 1965
Escape from New York
as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk 1981
High Noon
as Jack Colby 1952
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
as Reese 1962
How the West Was Won
as River Pirate (uncredited) 1962
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
as Ed Bailey 1957
Death Rides a Horse
as Ryan 1967
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
as Corp. Stone 1953
The Big Gundown
as Jonathan Corbett 1967
The Big Combo
as Fante 1955
Ride Lonesome
as Frank 1959
Return of Sabata
as Sabata / Major 1971
Day of Anger
as Frank Talby 1967
The Young Lions
as 1st Sgt. Rickett 1958
Kansas City Confidential
as Tony Romano 1952
The Octagon
as McCarn 1980