Lee Van Cleef
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. He 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 had begun to lose interest in his declining 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.
You can find people similar to Lee Van Cleef by visiting our lists Male actors from Somerville, New Jersey and Pipe smokers.
| Full name at birth | Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef, Jr.
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| Claim to fame | For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Kid Vengeance
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| Date of birth | 9 January 1925
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| Place of birth | Somerville, New Jersey, United States
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| Date of death | 16 December 1989
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| Age | 64 (age at death)
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| Place of death | Oxnard, California,United States
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| Cause of death | Heart Attack
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| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery Hollywood Hills, California, United States
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| Occupation | Actor
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PERSONAL DETAILS
| Height | 6' 2" (188 cm)
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ADDITIONAL DETAILS
| Net worth | $2,000,000 USD
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| High school | Somerville High School, Somerville, New Jersey, United States (1943)
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![Lee Van Cleef - Movie News Magazine Pictorial [Singapore] (June 1969)](http://img3.bdbphotos.com/images/130x130/v/r/vr5i3vqknyw9v9n.jpg?skj2io4l)
- He had three children from his first marriage: Deborah, Alan and David.
- According to the book "Weird NJ" (Sceurman, Mark and Mark Moran, Barnes and Noble Books, 2004 ISBN 0-7607-3979-X) he was a descendant of the Morris County Van Cleefs who were infamous in the area for their strange living and "procreational" efforts. In fact, one trait that Lee had was that he had one green eye and one blue eye. According to the book, "this telltale characteristic was corrected in the movies with colored contact lenses".
- Son of Clarence Leroy Van Cleef and wife Maria Lavinia Van Fleet, both mostly of Dutch ancestry.
- He had almost given up his acting career in the mid-'60s and turned to painting when he was cast by Sergio Leone in Per qualche dollaro in più (1965). It made him a superstar in Europe and restarted his career in the US, making him again a recognizable and bankable name.
- Was the inspiration for the character Revolver Ocelot in the "Metal Gear" series of games.
Lee Van Cleef is known for his role in the film Escape from New York (1981) as Hauk.
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