Lee Van Cleef

Clarene LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor.

Lee Van Cleef
Van Cleef in Death Rides a Horse (1967)
Born	Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (1925-01-09)January 9, 1925 Somerville, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 16, 1989(1989-12-16) (aged 64) Oxnard, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1952–1989
Spouses	Patsy Ruth Kahle ​ ​ (m. 1943; div. 1958)​ Joan Marjorie Drane ​ ​ (m. 1960; div. 1974)​ Barbara Havelone ​ (m. 1976)​
Children	4

Acting career

Born in Somerville, New Jersey, U.S.. His first roles were the villain Jack Colby in the western classic High Noon (1952) with Gary Cooper, and the sci fi movie The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) as Corp. Stone. Other classic western movies, he played a minor role in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), as Ed Bailey, and The Tin Star (1957), as Ed McGaffey.

Lee Van Cleef jumped to fame in the spaghetti westerns, directed by Sergio Leone, For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), with Clint Eastwood in the title role.

He had great success in European cinema in Italy is the protagonist of Spaghetti Westerns: The Big Gundown (1966) - Death Rides a Horse (1967) - Day of Anger (1967) - Beyond the Law (1968) - Sabata (1969) - Return of Sabata (1971) - Bad Man's River (1971) - The Grand Duel (1972) - Mean Frank and Crazy Tony (1973) - The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974) - Take a Hard Ride (1975) - God`s Gun (1976).

In the United States, Van Cleef also starred in some western movies such as Barquero (1970), by Gordon Douglas, and The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) by George McCowan

In the early 1980s he worked in the film The Octagon (1980), with Chuck Norris, Escape from New York (1981), directed by John Carpenter, and Armed Response (1986), with David Carradine.

Television

In 1984, Van Cleef was the main protagonist of the NBC television series The Master, created by Michael Sloan, Lee plays an ex-military master martial arts expert ninja. Although it only lasted 13 episodes in the series keeps hundreds of thousands of fans around the world.

He also guest starred in the TV series The Range Rider - The Adventures of Champion - The Gene Autry Show - The Lone Ranger - Brave Eagle - Trackdown - Wagon Train - Laramie - Rawhide - Branded - Laredo - Gunsmoke, always playing villain roles

Filmography

Selected Filmography:

• High Noon (1952)
• Cansas City Confidential (1952)
• It Conquered the World (1956)
• Joe Dakota (1957)
• Guns, Girls and Gungesters (1958)
• Ride Lonesome (1959)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
• For a Few Dollars More (1965)
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
• The Big Gundown (1967)
• Death Rides a Horse (1967)
• Day of Anger (1967)
• Beyond the Law (1968)
• Commondos (1968)
• Sabata (1969)
• Barquero (1970)
• El Condor (1970)
• Captain Apache (1971)
• Return of Sabata (1971)
• Bad Man's River (1971)
• The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)
• The Grand Duel (1972)
• Mean Frank and Tony Crazy (1973)
• Blood Money (1974)
• Take a Hard Ride (1975)
• God's Gun (1976)
• Kid Vengeance (1977)
• No Where to Hide (1977)
• The Perfect Killer (1977)
• The Squeeze (1978)
• The Hard Way (1979)
• The Octagon (1980)
• Escape from New York (1981)
• Code Name: Wild Geese (1984)
• Jungle Raiders (1985)
• Armed Response (1986)
• Commander (1988)
• Speed Zone (1989)
• Thieves of Fortune (1990)

Other websites

• Lee Van Cleef on IMDb
• Lee Van Cleef at AllMovie
• "Lee Van Cleef". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
• Van Cleef's only published English-language biography Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
• TheBad.net: A Tribute to Lee Van Cleef
• Lee Van Cleef page
• Lee van Cleef Forum Archived 2012-02-27 at the Wayback Machine