Matinee Classics - Lee Van Cleef Biography & Filmography

Lee Van Cleef ACTOR

PHOTOS

LEE VAN CLEEF BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Lee Van Cleef was born on January 9th, 1925 in Somerville, New Jersey with the birth name Clarence Leroy Van Cleef Jr., born to Clarence Leroy Van Cleef and Maria Lavinia Van Fleet. He did not originally intend to pursue career as an actor. He actually began his adult life serving in the United States Navy during World War II and later worked as an accountant and office administrator and only during his spare time for fun, he would participate in local amateur theatrical plays.

It was during an audition for a professional touring company for a production of, "Mr. Roberts" where he really began to realize he had a passion for performing. He took the job and during one of the performances, he was seen by director, Stanley Kramer who cast him in his first film role in, "High Noon" (1952) starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Thomas Mitchell, Sheb Wooley, Robert J. Wilke and Lon Chaney Jr.

Although, he had no speaking lines in his first film, he somehow managed to gain the attention of Hollywood and began appearing in a variety of films such as, "Kansas City Confidential" (1952) starring John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston Foster, Neville Brand, Carleton Young and Jack Elam, "The Big Combo" (1955) starring Cornel Wilde, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Richard Conte, Robert Middleton, Ted de Corsia, Helen Walker and Earl Holliman, "The Naked Street" (1955) also starring Farley Granger, Anthony Quinn, Anne Bancroft, Peter Graves and Whit Bissell, "A Man Alone" (1955) co-starring Ray Milland, Mary Murphy, Raymond Burr, Ward Bond and Alan Hale Jr., "Soldiers of Fortune" (1957) with John Russell, Chick Chandler and John Doucette, "The Tin Star" (1957) starring Henry Fonda, Neville Brand, John McIntire, Betsy Palmer and Anthony Perkins, "Ride Lonesome" (1959) starring Randolph Scott, James Coburn, Karen Steele, James Best and Pernell Roberts, "How the West Was Won" (1962) starring Carroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Agnes Moorehead, Harry Morgan, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy and John Wayne, among a plethora of great stars and "For a Few Dollars More" (1965) and "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" (1966) both starring Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach.

In addition to film roles he also appeared on numerous television series such as, "The Range Rider", "Vice Squad", "The Lone Ranger", "Wagon Train", "Sheriff of Cochise", "Buffalo Bill Jr.", "Cimarron City", "Bonanza", "Maverick", "Laramie", "77 Sunset Strip", "Stories of the Century", "The Rifleman", "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", "Perry Mason", "Gunsmoke", "Frontier Doctor", "The Gene Autry Show" and starring in "The Master".

One of his more well known television roles was between 1951 and 1955 when he appeared on, "The Adventures of Kit Carson". In 1958, he suffered a bad car accident which shattered his knee and it took some time for him to recover before returning back to work.

When returning back to the industry he actually worked as a painter part time while going to auditions. During the mid 1960's he became a star on a number of Western films such as, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) starring John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, Andy Devine, Woody Strode, Strother Martin, Edmond O'Brien, John Carradine, Jeanette Nolan, John Qualen, Carleton Young, Willis Bouchey, Dave O'Brien, Ken Murray, Robert F. Simon, Denver Pyle and Shug Fisher, "Death Rides a Horse" (1967) with John Phillip Law and "The Big Gundown" (1966) with Tomas Milian and "Day of Anger" (1967) with Giuliano Gemma. Lee had as his forte during this time frame starring in many Spaghetti Westerns and seemed to be in his best comfort zone in Westerns movies in general.

His more recent appearances were on the films, "CodeName: Wild Geese" (1984) starring with Ernest Borgnine, Klaus Kinski and Lewis Collins, "Jungle Raiders" (1985) with Christopher Connelly, "Armed Response" (1986) with David Carradine, "Thieves of Fortune" (1989) co-starring Michael Nouri, Shawn Weatherly, Craig Gardner and Liz Torres and his final film role on, "Speed Zone" (1989) starring alongside John Candy, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, Donna Dixon, Matt Frewer, Tim Matheson, Mimi Kuzyk, Melody Anderson, Shari Belafonte, Brian George, Art Hindle, Dick Smothers, Tom Smothers, Peter Boyle, Don Lake, John Schneider, Lee Van Cleef, Harvey Atkin, Michael Spinks, Brooke Shields, Alyssa Milano, Louis Del Grande, Richard Petty and Carl Lewis.

Lee Van Cleef married three times throughout his lifetime, first to Patsy Ruth in 1943 and they had three children before this marriage came to an end. He then married Joan Marjorie Drane in 1960 and this marriage also ended in divorce in 1974. His third and final wife was Barbara Havelone whom he wed in 1976 and they remained together until Van Cleef passed away from a heart attack on December 16th, 1989 in Oxnard, California. His remains are interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, California.