Lee Van Cleef

From The Spaghetti Western Database

* January 9, 1925

† December 16, 1989

Lee Van Cleef

Lee van cleef born on 9 January 1925 in Somerville, New Jersey, USA is an American actor who has an impressive career as one of the best villians the cinema ever had.After the World War II ,in which he served as an minesweeper in the US Navy,he worked as an office administrator,becoming involved in amateur theatrics in his spare time.An audition for a professional role led to a touring company job in "Mr. Roberts". His performance was seen by Stanley Kramer, who cast him as henchman Jack Colby in High Noon (1952).Till 1952-1964 he played the villian in a lot of American movies,primarily in westerns but also in crime dramas such as The Big Combo (1955).He had almost given up his acting career ,because of a car accident in late 1959 nearly crippled him: broken leg, broken arm, shattered kneecap.Doctors supposedly told him he would never ride again,But then his carrer got a new push after Sergio Leone's For a few Dollars more in 1965, where he played Col. Mortimer and Sergio Sollima's The Big Gundown in 1966.As a western hero (or better anti-hero) Lee Van Cleef became an international star, though in films of decreasing quality.In December 1989 he died of a heart attack and was buried at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills.Lee Van Cleef is today one of the well known and respect actors of the Spaghetti-Western Cinema.

Filmography

at the Imdb.com
Click here to see his Filmography in Alphabetical order

Good to know

He lost the tip of his middle finger on his right hand while building a playhouse for his daughter.(Seen in a scene in The Good,the Bad and the Ugly).
He had a alcohol problem
He said about himself:"Being born with a pair of beady eyes was the best thing that ever happened to me."(His eyes had diferent colors a green one and a blue one).