Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthdate
1925-01-09
Day of Death
1989-12-16
Place of Birth
Somerville, New Jersey, USA
Lee Van Cleef
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 (92)
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
2024Peter Baumgartner, Filmkameramann
2014Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
2000
Thieves of Fortune
1990
Speed Zone
1989
The Commander
1988
Armed Response
1986
Jungle Raiders
1985
The Master Ninja 5
1985
Code Name: Wild Geese
1984
Killing Machine
1984
Master Ninja
1984
Master Ninja II
1984
Escape from New York
1981
