Lee Van Cleef

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

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, Per qualche dollaro in più (For a Few Dollars More) (1965) and Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (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) - Da uomo a uomo (1966) - I giorni dell'ira (1967) - Al di là della legge (1968) - Sabata (1969) - È tornato Sabata... hai chiuso un'altra volta (1971) - Bad Man's River (1971) - Il grande duello (1972) - Dio, sei proprio un padreterno! (1973) - The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974) - Take a Hard Ride (1975) - Diamante Lobo (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

Other websites

 * Van Cleef's only published English-language biography
 * TheBad.net: A Tribute to Lee Van Cleef
 * Lee Van Cleef page
 * Lee van Cleef Forum
 * TheBad.net: A Tribute to Lee Van Cleef
 * Lee Van Cleef page
 * Lee van Cleef Forum