Lee Van Cleef was a notable figure during the heyday of the American Western. With his chiseled features and steely disposition, he frequently held the role of the archetypal antagonist. However, beyond the big screen, the actor’s character diverged from his movie portrayals. He exhibited acts of courage and altruism, exemplified by his service to his country during World War II.
Lee Van Cleef’s upbringing and early days
Clarence LeRoy “Lee” Van Cleef Jr. was born on January 9, 1925. Growing up in Somerville, New Jersey, he graduated from high school earlier than most, as he was eager to join the US Navy.
Beginning his training in 1942, Van Cleef was assigned to a submarine chaser and later embarked on an extended deployment aboard the minesweeper USS Incredible (AM-249). Throughout this period, he served as a sonarman, tasked with performing underwater surveillance duties.
World War II service
Lee Van Cleef served in the military during the Second World War, spending 10 months aboard the submarine chaser USS SC-681, which was assigned to track German U-boats. Following his stint aboard the USS Incredible, he was stationed in the Caribbean, before the vessel was redeployed to the Mediterranean, where he participated in the landings in southern France.
During one of these landings, Incredible came under heavy torpedo fire from the German forces. Van Cleef’s courageous actions in response to this threat earned him the Bronze Star for bravery.
In January 1945, the ship transited to the Black Sea, where her crew performed sweeping operations from a Soviet naval base in Sevastopol and engaged in air-sea rescue patrols, before returning to Palermo, Italy. Upon his discharge in 1946, Van Cleef had attained the rank of sonarman first class, earned his mine sweeper patch and received numerous commendations, including the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
Lee Van Cleef’s legendary acting career
Following his time overseas, Van Cleef returned to New Jersey and participated in community theater. He worked his way up and eventually found himself in Manhattan, at the behest of a talent scout. His big break came in the 1952 American Western, High Noon. The actor was actually offered a bigger role if he got a nose job, but declined and, instead, played the villainous Jack Colby.
Van Cleef’s role in High Noon greatly influenced his career trajectory. Over the following decade, he regularly appeared in Western films, usually played the role of the villain. He also made a number of television appearances, acting on such shows as The Rifleman (1958-63) and Gunsmoke (1955-75).
A sought after actor
In 1965, Sergio Leone cast Lee Van Cleef to portray the antagonist in the film, For a Few Dollars More. The actor’s performance alongside Clint Eastwood was so compelling that he was subsequently cast as the villain in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly just a year later.
It was his role in the latter that propelled Van Cleef to stardom and solidified his status as a highly sought-after actor. Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, he continued to collaborate with Leone, appearing in several of the director’s movies. Additionally, he starred in other notable films, such as Death Rides a Horse (1967), Day of Anger (1967) and Sabata (1969).
Lee Van Cleef’s legacy
While Lee Van Cleef arguably made his biggest films during the 1960s, he kept on acting through the 1970s and ’80s. Some of his most notably movie appearances during this time included as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk in Escape from New York (1981) and as Chris Adams in The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972).
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The US Navy hero continued to work up until the day he died, with a total of 90 move roles and 109 TV appearances under his belt. After suffering from heart disease for a decade, he passed away in December 1989, at the age of 64. The primary cause was listed as a heart attack, with throat cancer also attributed.