Lee Van Cleef
Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, particularly the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy films For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). He received a Golden Boot Award in 1983 for his contribution to the Western film and television genre.
Lee Van Cleef | |
|---|---|
Van Cleef in Death Rides a Horse (1967) | |
| Born | Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. January 9, 1925 Somerville, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 1989 (aged 64) Oxnard, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1952–1989 |
| Spouses | Patsy Ruth Kahle
(m. 1943; div. 1958)Joan Marjorie Drane
(m. 1960; div. 1974)Barbara Havelone (m. 1976) |
| Children | 4 |
| Military career | |
| Service/ | US Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Rank | Sonarman First Class |
| Unit | USS Incredible (AM-249) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Bronze Star Good Conduct Medal American Campaign Medal European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal
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Born and raised in Somerville, New Jersey, Van Cleef served in the United States Navy during World War II aboard a minesweeper, earning a Bronze Star for his actions. After acting on stage in regional theatre, he made his film debut in the Oscar-winning Western High Noon (1952) in a non-speaking outlaw cast role. With distinctive, angular features and a taciturn screen persona, Van Cleef was typecast as minor villain and supporting player in Westerns and crime dramas. After suffering serious injuries in a car crash, Van Cleef's acting career started to decline. However, he achieved unexpected stardom when director Sergio Leone offered him the co-leading role in For a Few Dollars More. The film proved to be a huge hit and cited him as a box-office draw, largely in Europe.
Van Cleef went on to appear in films such as Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), as well as The Big Gundown (1967), Death Rides a Horse (1967), Day of Anger (1967), Beyond the Law (1968), Commandos (also 1968), Sabata (1969) and its sequel Return of Sabata (1971), Barquero (1970), El Condor (also 1970), The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972), The Grand Duel (also 1972), Mean Frank and Crazy Tony (1973), The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974), Take a Hard Ride (1975), God's Gun (1976), The Rip-Off (1978), television film The Hard Way (1979), The Octagon (1980), and Escape from New York (1981), Code Name: Wild Geese (1984), Armed Response (1986) and Speed Zone (1989). He also played the lead role of John Peter McAllister on the martial arts television series The Master (1984).