People
Lee Van Cleef
Acting · follow into films and chains
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".
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
Related people
Collaborators & neighbours
Acted
Escape from New York
1981 · Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
Commandos
1968 · MSgt. Sullivan
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
1966 · Sentenza / Angel Eyes
For a Few Dollars More
1965 · Col. Douglas Mortimer
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962 · Reese
It Conquered the World
1956 · Dr. Tom Anderson
High Noon
1952 · Jack Colby