Born Clarence Leroy Van Cleef, Jr. on January 9, 1925 to parents of Dutch
ancestry, Lee Van Cleef grew up in the pleasant farm community of
Somerville, New Jersey. Coming of age just in time for World War II, he
served in the U.S. Navy aboard a submarine chaser in the Caribbean, then
in the Black and China Seas on a mine sweeper. Married in 1943 to Patsy
Ruth, Lee settled down to family life after the war. He and his wife had
three children together, one girl and two boys. He did not start out as
an actor to support his family, but worked on farms and other outdoors
jobs, then at a plant as a time study methods and motions analyst as well
as dabbling in accounting. After being told so often that with his unique
look he should try acting, he joined a local theater company in Clinton,
New Jersey. "I went out there one night by a friend's invitation and
tried out for a part-- and damn if I didn't make it!" His first big break
came in an audition for the touring company of "Mr. Roberts". Of this New
York audition Lee said, "The Director asked me to take off my jacket,
then my shirt, then my pants and strut around the stage." Even though
there was a "broad sitting down there next to him," Lee complied and gave
what he said was a terrible reading, but the strapping, muscular young
man obviously had what they were looking for, and he was cast. Upon being
offered the job, a very conscientious Van Cleef said he could not take it
without giving two weeks notice at the plant where he worked. It seemed
that such a length of time would be impossible for the director, and so
he declined taking the role. Upon returning to work, his boss promptly
fired him. He asked Lee, "You want to do this thing, don't you?" To which
Lee replied, "Yes, I do." "OK then, your fired." His performance in Mr.
Roberts was seen by Stanley Kramer which led him to be cast in the
classic film High Noon (1952) as the character of Jack Colby. This was
not the part he was originally approached about though. Kramer's first
intention was to cast him in the role of Harvey Pell and asked Lee if he
would get his nose fixed for the role. In characteristic fashion, Lee
told him over the phone "where he could go" and thought that was the end
of that. But Kramer called him back the next day offering the part of the
heavy, Colby. Even though he had virtually no dialogue, this film did get
him noticed and the die was cast. Lee Van Cleef would be cast in film
after film for the next several years primarily in supporting roles as
the villain or the brash young bad guys, primarily in Westerns but also
in crime dramas such as The Big Combo (1955).

In 1959, a severe alcohol related car crash nearly cost him his career as
a resulting knee injury had doctors telling him he would never ride a
horse again. This injury was to plague him for the rest of his life,
causing him great pain. His recovery was long and arduous and did take
him away from acting for a time. He divorced his first wife, and married
again in 1960. During his time away from acting, Lee began a business in
interior decoration with wife Joanie, as well as pursuing his talent for
painting, primarily of sea and landscapes. While building a studio off
his house in Granada, Lee cut off the tip of his finger on his right
hand. This would later become rather a trademark for him. He described
his down time from acting jobs as unhealthy dry spells. His acting
career, it seemed, had run its course ending with many TV appearances.
But there was an opportunity waiting for him that was to change his life.
His hawk nose and slit eyes seemed destined to keep him always in the
realm of heavies, but in 1965 Sergio Leone cast him as the tough but
decent Colonel Mortimer

In 1965, Italian Director Sergio Leone was looking to cast his second so
called "Spaghetti Western" after having much success with his first of
such films, "A Fistfull of Dollars" (starring a young Clint Eastwood.)
For his second film entitled "For a Few Dollars More", Leone was looking
for an actor to play the co-starring role opposite Eastwood -- the
sophisticated, competent older character of Colonel Douglas Mortimer.
Leone wanted to cast Lee Marvin, but he had just signed for the film Cat
Ballou. So Leone came to Los Angeles to search for another actor. He came
across Lee's picture and called his agent who didn't know what he was
doing at the moment, since he had been out of the business for quite some
time. Lee was contacted, and went for the interview. By now, he knew how
to sell himself. Coming prepared in a black overcoat and boots, Leone
took one look at his silhouette in the doorway and knew he had his man.
Lee was offered the film right there, with a salary of $17,000. Once
again, a conscientious Van Cleef could not take it unless his current
client, whose house he was in the middle of designing, was paid back. So
Leone came up with another $5,000 to pay him off.

Lee was off to location in a place halfway around the world called
Almeria, Spain. The Spanish village and surrounding countryside had an
uncanny resemblance to Texas and a small Mexican border town. As men are
apt to do, an argument broke out between Eastwood and Van Cleef as to who
was the faster draw. Lee won the argument, being clocked by frames on the
film reel. In 1966, Lee was again to be cast with Eastwood in Sergio's
next film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. This role was completely
different from the good guy of Colonel Mortimer, and it is a credit to
Van Cleef's abilities as an actor as it is sometimes hard to believe they
are played by the same man. During this film it was actually Eastwood who
dubbed him Angel Eyes. This goes down in history as one of the screen's
greatest villainous roles.

Lee Van Cleef went on to starring roles with salaries to match in many
Euro-Westerns during the late 60's and on into the '70's when the genre
started to fade. During this time he became one of the top ten biggest
box office draws in Europe. He purchased a home in Rome, and gave one of
his few television interviews for Spanish television after purchasing a
cattle ranch in that country. The days of the Spaghetti Western may then
have begun to fade, but Lee's career did not. The genre took a strange
turn in the mid-seventies, combining with a new and upcoming genre, the
martial arts action films. Lee appeared in one of these combos, The
Stranger and the Gunfighter in 1974. He thus began a new phase of his
life, marrying for a third time to wife Barbara Havalone, and relocating
to Oxnard, California. For the remainder of his career, he played in many
action/adventure films, such as, The Octagon and Escape From New York. In
1984 he had the lead in a short lived television series called "The
Master", playing an American Ninja now in the United States searching for
his long lost daughter.

Lee Van Cleef worked up until his failing health took his life on
December 14, 1989 at the age of 64. He collapsed in his home from a heart
attack. His wife Barbara called paramedics but they were unable to revive
him. He was buried at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills. After a career
that spanned four decades, Lee Van Cleef has given us a tremendous body
of work to remember him by. He was a hero to many, allowing them to live
vicariously through him as his calm and cool demeanor exuded confidence
and strength on screen. He appealed to that bit of villain in all of us.
When once asked if he liked playing the bad guy, Lee replied, "Sure,
those characters have a lot of depth." He may have been drawn into
playing them by his intense eyes and sharp features, but he honed his
skill to a finely tuned art.
SOURCE: http://www.leevancleef.com/bio.htm

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• Married: 1960

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