Lee Van Cleef
Known For
Acting
Born
1925-01-09 in Somerville, New Jersey, USA
Died
1989-12-16
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".
Most Known For
Perry Mason
as Edward Doyle
Bonanza
as Appling
The Twilight Zone
as Steinhart
The Andy Griffith Show
as Skip
The Rifleman
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Golias
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Corbin
Wagon Train
as Rufe Beal
Maverick
Zorro
Cheyenne
as Braden
Cheyenne
as Harry Bittercreek Bartender
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
as Sentenza / Angel Eyes
The Untouchables
as Frank Diamond
Rawhide
as Fred Grant
Rawhide
as Deck Sommers
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
as Majeski
Gunsmoke
as Rad
Gunsmoke
as John Hooker