Lee Van Cleef is a Hollywood actor best known for his roles as villains in westerns. It was he who played the cruel and colorful killer Sentenza in the famous film by Sergio Leone "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly."
Early years and first roles
Lee Van Cleef was born in 1925 in Somerville (New Jersey), where he spent his childhood.
From 1942 to 1946, the future actor served in the US Navy on a submarine. During this time, he had a chance to visit all over the world - the Caribbean, Black and South China Seas. It is also known that he was awarded several medals for his service.
In the second half of the forties, Lee Van Cleef changed a number of professions (in particular, he was an accountant), after which he decided to take up acting (he perfectly understood that he had a quite suitable appearance for this). He joined one of the New Jersey State Theater Companies. Pretty soon, Van Cleef was noticed and given a small role in a Broadway musical.
And the first work of the actor in the movie was a small role of the criminal Jack Colby in the classic western 1952 "High Noon". And although this character had almost no dialogue, Lee Van Cleef's performance was memorable.
After that, he starred in a variety of low-budget films. As an example, we can cite such now almost forgotten films as "The Monster from the Depth of 20,000 Fathoms" (1953), "Gypsy Colt" (1954), "Yellow Tomahawk" (1954), "The Disappearing Americans" (1955), etc..d.
Car accident and further career
In 1958, Van Cleef got into a car accident that almost ended in death for him. In this accident, he suffered a serious knee injury and was unable to ride a horse for some time (which, of course, narrowed the range of possible roles). From 1962 to 1965, his main job was as an interior decorator in a Hollywood hotel. At this time, he began to abuse alcohol, but a chance acquaintance with the Italian director Sergio Leone helped him return to big cinema.
Leone offered him the role of Colonel Douglas Mortimer in his film A Few Dollars More, and the actor agreed to this offer. Ultimately, Lee Van Cleef's brilliant performance in this spaghetti western proved to everyone that he was still in great shape as an actor. By the way, the famous Clint Eastwood was Van Cleef's partner on the set. Together they appeared in the frame and in the next western Leone "The Good, the Bad, the Ugly" (1966).
Other notable roles for Lee Van Cleef include the role of Mr. McCarn in the popular action movie Octagon with Chuck Norris (1980) and the role of Chief of Police Hawke in John Carpenter's cult fantasy film Escape from New York (1981). In addition, in the early eighties, he played John McAllister, "the first Westerner to become a ninja," on the NBC television series The Master, which aired in the US. And it was, in fact, Lee Van Cleef's last major TV work.
Personal life
Back in 1943, Lee Van Cleef married for the first time. His beloved was a girl named Patsy Roof. From this marriage, the actor had three children - a girl and two boys. Alas, at some point, the relationship between Patsy and Lee came to a standstill and their family broke up.
In 1960, he married a second time - to Joan Marjorie Jane. This marriage lasted until 1974.
The third wife of the actor in 1976 was Barbara Havelone.
Last years
In the last five years of his life (that is, starting in 1984), Van Cleef starred quite a bit. This was due to health problems - he suffered from various heart diseases. The last film in which he took part was called "Thieves of fortune" (in Russian this name is translated as "Thieves of Fortune" or "Gentlemen of Fortune"). Here he played the millionaire Sergio Cristofero.
Van Cleef died of a heart attack on December 16, 1989. They buried him in the Hollywood Hills cemetery in Los Angeles.
