Lee Van Cleef

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Lee Van Cleef,
File:LeeVanCleef1.jpg
Born
Lee Van Cleef
Years active1952 - 1989
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Spouse(s)Barbara Havelone (July 13 1976 – December 16 1989) (his death)
Joanie (1960 – ?)
Patsy Ruth (1943 – ?) (divorced) 3 children

Lee Van Cleef (January 9 1925 – December 16 1989) was an American film actor, who appeared mostly in Western and action pictures. His sharp features and piercing eyes made him an ideal "bad guy," though he was occasionally cast in a hero's role, such as a bounty hunter in For a Few Dollars More.

Biography

Early life

Van Cleef was born in Somerville, New Jersey to Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Sr and Marion Lavinia Van Fleet; the family's ancestry was mostly Dutch, Swedish, Belgian and English.[1] Van Cleef served in the United States Navy during World War II and became an actor after a brief career as an accountant. His first acting experiences were on stage, including a small role in the original Broadway production of Mister Roberts. His first film was the classic Western High Noon, in which he played a villain. He also had a bit part as the sharpshooter in the climax of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms around the same time. In 1956 he co-starred with Peter Graves in the B-grade Sci-Fi movie It Conquered the World.

Career

Van Cleef played different minor characters on four episodes of the TV series The Rifleman between 1959 and 1962. He played one of Lee Marvin's villainous henchmen in the 1962 John Ford classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, with James Stewart and John Wayne. He had a small, uncredited role as one of the river pirates in 1962's How the West Was Won.

File:LeeVanCleef.JPG
Van Cleef as The Bad (Angel Eyes) in the Good the Bad and the Ugly.

Van Cleef appeared in several Spaghetti westerns, including For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (both co-starring Clint Eastwood), as well as The Big Gundown and The Sabata Trilogy. Van Cleef also had a supporting role in John Carpenter's cult hit Escape from New York. He also appeared as a villainous swindler in the Bonanza episode, The Bloodline (December 31, 1960), along with 90 movie roles and 109 other television appearances over a 38-year span.

In the early 1980s he played John Peter McCallister, the "first Occidental to become a ninja" in NBC's The Master. His last television appearance was in 1984 when he left the show The Master.[1] Episodes of the show were later remarketed as made-for-TV movies (by editing two episodes together), two of which were featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Personal life

Lee Van Cleef died from a heart attack in Oxnard, California and was interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. His gravestone says "Lee Van Cleef Jan 9, 1925 - Dec 16, 1989 'Best of the Bad' Love and Light".

He lost the tip of his middle finger on his right hand while building a playhouse for his daughter. This can be seen in the close-up shots of his hand during the gunfights in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and in an early scene of The Grand Duel.

Popular culture

  • The revolver-toting villain "Revolver Ocelot" from the popular videogame series Metal Gear Solid is said to have been loosely based on Lee Van Cleef.[2]
  • The aging protagonist from Metal Gear Solid 4, Solid Snake is based upon Lee Van Cleef.[3]
  • In World of Warcraft, the "final boss" monster for the Deadmines instance is "Edwin Van Cleef".
  • The Simpsons used a character rather like Van Cleef in their spoof of the Clint Eastwood musical (which was an adaptation of a stage show), Paint Your Wagon.
  • In the Lucky Luke comic book story Chasseur de primes (Bounty hunter), the bounty hunter Elliot Belt is an easily identifiable caricature of Van Cleef.
  • Van Cleef was listed as one of the dedicatees at the end of Quentin Tarantino's 2004 film Kill Bill Vol. 2.
  • The villain Marshal Nathan Van Cleef in Shanghai Noon is an homage to Lee Van Cleef.
  • The character "Lee Scoresby" from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy derives his first name from Lee Van Cleef, with Pullman saying the character looks just like him.
  • Van Cleef had one green eye and one blue eye, but most often wore contacts. This shows one characteristic of the New Jersey Van Cleef family, who are known for this trait. (See the book "Weird New Jersey" for their article on the family for information on both him and the family from which he comes).
  • Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal's 9.11 album features a track entitled Legend of Van Cleef.
  • Van Cleef was briefly listed as an officer working at the SGC in the Stargate SG-1 episode Entity though this is only visible on a frame-by-frame viewing.

Partial filmography

See also

References

  1. ^ La mort de Lee Van Cleef, Le Monde. Mardi 19 décembre 1989, p. 17. accessed on October 7, 2006.
  2. ^ "Gamerz Edge interview with Ryan Rayton". Retrieved 4 January. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ MacDonald, Mark (2005). "Metal Gear Solid 4 101". 1up.com. Ziff Davis Media Inc. Retrieved 2007-01-09.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lee_Van_Cleef&oldid=148853157"