Clarence LeRoy "Lee" Van Cleef Jr. 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, Hig ... h 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. Military service: After basic training and further training at the Naval Fleet Sound School, Van Cleef was assigned to a submarine chaser and then to a minesweeper, USS Incredible, on which he worked as a sonarman. After leaving the Navy, Van Cleef read for a part in Our Town at the Little Theater Group in Clinton, New Jersey and received his first stage role. From there, he continued to meet with the group and audition for parts. The next biggest part was that of the boxer, Joe Pendleton, in the play Heaven Can Wait. During this time, he was observed by visiting talent scouts, who were impressed by Van Cleef's stage presence and delivery. One of these scouts later took him to New York City talent agent Maynard Morris of the MCA agency, who then sent him to the Alvin Theater for an audition. Van Cleef's screen debut came in High Noon. During a performance of Mister Roberts in Los Angeles, he was noticed by film director Stanley Kramer, who offered Van Cleef a role in his upcoming film. Kramer originally wanted Van Cleef for the role of the deputy Harvey Pell, but as he wanted Van Cleef to have his "distinctive nose" fixed, Van Cleef declined the role in favor of the part of the silent gunslinger Jack Colby. He was then cast mostly in villainous roles, due to his sharp cheeks and chin, piercing eyes, and hawk-like nose, from the part of Tony Romano in Kansas City Confidential (1952), culminating 14 years later in Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) 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". Description above from the Wikipedia article Lee Van Cleef, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Organization | Category | Movie |
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The Master
as John Peter McAllister
Episodes: 13
First Aired: Jan 20, 1984
The Untouchables
as Frank Diamond
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Oct 15, 1959
The Andy Griffith Show
as Skip
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 03, 1960
Gunsmoke
as Rad
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 10, 1955
Perry Mason
as Edward Doyle
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1957
General Electric Theater
as Dave Rudabaugh
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Feb 01, 1953
The Adventures of Champion
as Frank
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 23, 1955
Rawhide
as Fred Grant
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Golias
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 14, 1957
Yancy Derringer
as Ike Milton
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 02, 1958
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Dallas Clancy
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 05, 1951
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
as Ed Murdock
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jul 01, 1957
Black Saddle
as Frank Sandoe
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 10, 1959
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Jumbo Kane
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 06, 1958
Law of the Plainsman
as Tracey
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 01, 1959
Riverboat
as Luke Cragg
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 13, 1959
Wire Service
as Al Sanders
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 04, 1956
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
as Peak
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1959
The Lone Ranger
as Bull Harper
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 15, 1949
The Deputy
as Cherokee Kid
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 12, 1959
Lawman
as Deputy Clyde Wilson
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 05, 1958
Casey Jones
as Mort Clio
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 08, 1957
Rawhide
as Deck Sommers
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1959
Trackdown
as Ben Fraser
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 04, 1957
Cheyenne
as Braden
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 20, 1955
Gunsmoke
as John Hooker
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 10, 1955
Gunsmoke
as Ike Jeffords
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 10, 1955
Cavalcade of America
as 1st Mate Hawl Finch
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 01, 1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Larkin
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 05, 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Sheriff
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 05, 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Wink
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 05, 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Cowboy
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 05, 1951
Four Star Playhouse
as Bob Wheeler aka Sonora Kid
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 25, 1952
The Lone Ranger
as Jango
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 15, 1949
The Ford Television Theatre
as Stanley Perrin
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 02, 1952
Bonanza
as Appling
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 12, 1959
Tombstone Territory
as Sam Carver
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 16, 1957
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Corbin
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 14, 1957
77 Sunset Strip
as Majeski
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 10, 1958
Cheyenne
as Harry Bittercreek Bartender
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 20, 1955
State Trooper
as Frank Parnessa
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 25, 1956
Wagon Train
as Rufe Beal
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 18, 1957
The Gene Autry Show
as Hod - Henchman
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jul 23, 1950
The Gene Autry Show
as Henchman Ray
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jul 23, 1950
Annie Oakley
as Amos Belcher
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1954
Studio 57
as Tommy
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1954
Annie Oakley
as Tim Brennan
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 09, 1954
Stories of the Century
as Jesse James
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 23, 1954
Stagecoach West
as Lin Hyatt
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 04, 1960
The Adventures of Boston Blackie
as Captain Jansen
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 08, 1951
The Adventures of Boston Blackie
as Lou
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 08, 1951
The Twilight Zone
as Steinhart
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 02, 1959
The Dakotas
as Larry Jackson
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 07, 1963
The Adventures of Kit Carson
Episodes: 6
First Aired: Aug 11, 1951
Branded
Episodes: 4
First Aired: Jan 24, 1965
The Rifleman
Episodes: 4
First Aired: Sep 30, 1958
Bronco
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Sep 23, 1958
Lawman
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Oct 05, 1958
Buffalo Bill Jr.
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Mar 01, 1955
Cavalcade of America
Episodes: 2
First Aired: Oct 01, 1952
77 Sunset Strip
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 10, 1958
Mr. Lucky
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 24, 1959
Hawaiian Eye
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 07, 1959
Zorro
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 10, 1957
Laredo
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 16, 1965
My Mother the Car
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 14, 1965
The Alaskans
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 04, 1959
The Dakotas
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Jan 07, 1963
City Detective
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 07, 1953
The Ford Television Theatre
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Oct 02, 1952
Studio 57
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 21, 1954
Maverick
Episodes: 1
First Aired: Sep 22, 1957
Popularity History
Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
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2024 | 6 | 28 | 46 | 17 |
2024 | 7 | 31 | 43 | 17 |
2024 | 8 | 26 | 53 | 15 |
2024 | 9 | 19 | 30 | 9 |
2024 | 10 | 15 | 23 | 7 |
2024 | 11 | 15 | 21 | 9 |
2024 | 12 | 18 | 28 | 10 |
2025 | 1 | 18 | 27 | 12 |
2025 | 2 | 12 | 24 | 2 |
2025 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 0 |
2025 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
2025 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
2025 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
2025 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
2025 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 1 |
Trending Rank
Year | Month | Avg Rank | Max Rank |
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2024 | 6 | 749 | 316 |
2025 | 2 | 808 | 598 |
2025 | 5 | 534 | 471 |
2025 | 7 | 591 | 510 |