Skip to content
  1. Home
  2. Lee Van Cleef

Lee Van Cleef

Known for: Acting

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 62

For a Few Dollars More 1965Movie Apple TV Store as Col. Douglas Mortimer
The Bravados 1958Movie Apple TV Store as Alfonso Parral
Escape from New York 1981Movie as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
The Master 1984TV show as John Peter McAllister
High Noon 1952Movie as Jack Colby
The Young Lions 1958Movie as 1st Sgt. Rickett
The Big Gundown 1967Movie as Jonathan Corbett
The Grand Duel 1972Movie Artiflix as Sheriff Clayton
God's Gun 1976Movie as Father John / Lewis
Beyond the Law 1968Movie as Billy Joe Cudlip
Code Name: Wild Geese 1984Movie as Archie 'China' Travers
The Naked Street 1955Movie Amazon Prime Video as Harry Goldish (uncredited)
Commandos 1968Movie Amazon Prime VideoArtiflix as MSgt. Sullivan
The Squeeze 1978Movie as Chris Gretchko / Ray Sloan
Accused of Murder 1956Movie as Police Sgt. Emmett Lackey