Lee Van Cleef
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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".
Known for
Credits
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
as Sentenza / Angel Eyes
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
as Col. Douglas Mortimer
Escape from New York (1981)
as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
High Noon (1952)
as Jack Colby
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
as Reese
How the West Was Won (1962)
as River Pirate
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
as Ed Bailey
Death Rides a Horse (1967)
as Ryan
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
as Corp. Stone
The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)
as Marshal Chris Adams
The Young Lions (1958)
as 1st Sgt. Rickett
The Tin Star (1957)
as Ed McGaffey
Ride Lonesome (1959)
as Frank
Day of Anger (1967)
as Frank Talby
Speed Zone (1989)
as Grandfather
Sabata (1969)
as Sabata
The Big Gundown (1967)
as Jonathan Corbett
The Bravados (1958)
as Alfonso Parral
Bad Man's River (1971)
as Roy King
God's Gun (1976)
as Father John / Lewis
Ten Wanted Men (1955)
as Al Drucker
It Conquered the World (1956)
as Dr. Tom Anderson
Take a Hard Ride (1975)
as Kiefer
The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)
as Self
Day of the Badman (1958)
as Jake Hayes
Return of Sabata (1971)
as Sabata / Major
Mean Frank and Crazy Tony (1973)
as Frankie
Beyond the Law (1968)
as Billy Joe Cudlip
Tribute to a Bad Man (1956)
as Fat Jones
Posse from Hell (1961)
as Leo
The Big Combo (1955)
as Fante
Pardners (1956)
as Gus
Kansas City Confidential (1952)
as Tony Romano
The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974)
as Dakota
The Octagon (1980)
as McCarn
The Conqueror (1956)
as Chepei
Raiders of Old California (1957)
as Damon Pardee
Guns Girls and Gangsters (1959)
as Mike Bennett
A Man Alone (1955)
as Clanton
Princess of the Nile (1954)
as Hakar (uncredited)
El Condor (1970)
as Jaroo
The Lawless Breed (1952)
as Dirk Hanley
Code Name: Wild Geese (1984)
as Archie 'China' Travers
Last Stagecoach West (1957)
as Steve Margolies
Commandos (1968)
as MSgt. Sullivan
I Cover the Underworld (1955)
as Flash Logan
The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
as Nerva
Rails Into Laramie (1954)
as Ace Winton
The Lonely Man (1957)
as Faro
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion (1979)
as Self
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout (2024)
as Self (archive footage)
Treasure of Ruby Hills (1955)
as Frank Emmett
The Naked Street (1955)
as Harry Goldish (uncredited)
Untamed Frontier (1952)
as Dave Chittun
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor (2000)
as Col. Douglas Mortimer (archive footage)
Joe Dakota (1957)
as Adam Grant
Captain Apache (1971)
as Capt. Apache
Jungle Raiders (1985)
as Warren
The Grand Duel (1972)
as Sheriff Clayton
Barquero (1970)
as Travis
The Slowest Gun in the West (1960)
as Sam Bass
The Road to Denver (1955)
as Pecos Larry
China Gate (1957)
as Maj. Cham
The Badge of Marshal Brennan (1957)
as Shad Donaphin
Arrow In The Dust (1954)
as Tillotson Henchman
Dawn at Socorro (1954)
as Earl Ferris
The Master Ninja 5 (1985)
as John Peter McAllister
Vice Squad (1953)
as Pete Monty
Master Ninja (1984)
as John Peter McAllister
Kid Vengeance (1976)
as McClain
Armed Response (1986)
as Burt Roth
The Yellow Tomahawk (1954)
as Fire Knife
The Desperado (1954)
as Paul Clayton/Buck Clayton
Gun Battle at Monterey (1957)
as Kirby
Accused of Murder (1956)
as Police Sgt. Emmett Lackey
The Commander (1988)
as Col. Mazzarini
Machete (1958)
as Miguel
Thieves of Fortune (1990)
as Sergio Danielo Christophero
Jack Slade (1953)
as Bolt Mackay
Gypsy Colt (1954)
as Hank
The Squeeze (1978)
as Chris Gretchko / Ray Sloan
Killing Machine (1984)
as Julot
Tumbleweed (1953)
as Marv
The Vanishing American (1955)
as Jay Lord
The Quiet Gun (1957)
as Doug Sadler
Master Ninja II (1984)
as John Peter McAllister
The Perfect Killer (1977)
as Harry Chapman
The Nebraskan (1953)
as Pvt. Reno Benton
Arena (1953)
as Smitty
White Lightning (1953)
as Brutus Allen
Nowhere to Hide (1977)
as Ike Scanlon
Peter Baumgartner, Filmkameramann (2014)
as (archive footage)
The Hard Way (1980)
as McNeal