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Lee Van Cleef

Acting Born Jan 9, 1925 Somerville, New Jersey, USA 24 credits

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".

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Known for

Perry Mason

as Edward Doyle
Film

Predator

as Skip
Film

Mulholland Drive

as Appling

The Deputy

as Cherokee Kid
Film

Madagascar

2005

Four Star Playhouse

as Bob Wheeler aka Sonora Kid

Wagon Train

as Rufe Beal

Rawhide

as Fred Grant

Rawhide

as Deck Sommers

The Twilight Zone

as Steinhart

The Untouchables

as Frank Diamond

Have Gun, Will Travel

as Golias

Full filmography