Lee Van Cleef

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Lee Van Cleef in Death Rides A Horse (1967)

Lee Van Cleef (1925–1989) was a prolific American actor who made his name in films of the Western genre. His debut movie was the classic High Noon (1952) in which he played "Jack Colby", one of the "three men waiting for the noon train". Generally cast as a villain, he was a prominent supporting actor until the mid-1960s when he achieved his breakthrough role as bounty hunter "Colonel Douglas Mortimer" in For A Few Dollars More (1965), the second of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, which also starred Clint Eastwood and Gian Maria Volonte. The following year, Van Cleef starred as "Angel Eyes" (The Bad) in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with Eastwood and Eli Wallach.

Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr was born 9 January 1925 in Somerville, New Jersey. He enlisted in the United States Navy in September 1942 and served as a sonar technician in various theatres of the Second World War. He was honorably discharged in 1946, having been awarded several decorations, and began his acting career, initially in theatre. His film career of some 170 roles (movie and TV) spanned 38 years from his debut in 1952 until his death on 16 December 1989. He died at his home in Oxnard, California after a heart attack.