Lee Van Cleef. The Good, the Bad, the Determined
My Favorite Western Bad Guy!
Lee Van Cleef was a rugged looking man. His chiseled facial features forced you to take a second look. He had a great smile, but it was that chiseled face and those piercing eyes that made you believe he was the biggest villain walking. It was said that he actually had one green eye and one blue eye and it forced him to wear colored lens when he worked.
Van Cleef was in a car accident in 1959 that left him without his left kneecap! The doctors told him he would never be able to ride a horse again. For the most popular bad guy around at that time, this was career ending news. Unbelievably six months later, Lee was riding a horse again!
Van Cleef didn't just play bad guys in the westerns but also in detective and crime movies. But it is his work in the westerns that brought him fame. This accountant/U.S. Navy man who served on mine sweepers and sub chasers in WW2 ended up being a super star in Europe! In the Clint Eastwood movie "A Few Dollars More", we had a glimpse of Van Cleef as a nicer character. Europe scooped him up for a rash of spaghetti westerns that were perceived as "nice" guy roles for him. The audiences loved him in Europe and it actually restarted his career in the U.S.
On Feb. 26th, Encore Westerns will play several of Lee Van Cleef's westerns. Some of Lee's movies are: Take a Hard Ride, El Condor, Banquero, Death rides a Horse and of course, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Clarence Leroy Van Cleef Jr. made over 65 movies. The last movie he made was Thieves of Fortune with Michael Nouri and Liz Torres in 1990. He had one television series called The Master in 1984. He died of heart failure in 1989. But Lee Van Cleef still dominates as the best western bad guy ever.
source:
NNDB
Published by Sherry Tomfeld
Gardening and food preservation are her passion, she has been doing both for 30 years.Working thousands of head of hogs, raising cattle, goats and chickens to being lead cook in a 90 resident nursing home. S... View profile
The IMDB Top 100 Films - #5 The Good, the Bad, and the UglyIMDB's fifth best rated film of all time, Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly- Sergio Leone's Transformation of the American West in CinemaWith the recent releases of two modern westerns - 3:10 to Yuma and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - it's time for a look back at one of the greatest Westerns of all time.
- So You Want to Be a Household Name...Really?If you want to be rich and famous you came to the right place. I will make you rich and famous or I will get rich and famous trying.
Christmas Movies of 1967I thought I would take you back forty years ago to 1967. Back then suburban malls were beginning to pop up while big city movie palaces were still flourishing. 
Return of the Revenge of the Next Top 10 Mystery Science Theater 3000 Vi...Google has added more episodes of MST3K to their digital archive, so in true MSTie fashion, here is Revenge of the Return of the Next Top 10 Mystery Science Theater 3000 Videos...
- Top 10 Greatest Western Films
- Sergio Leone - Spaghetti Western Master
- Why the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is the Best Movie of All Time
- All Time Favorite Action Movies
- Collecting Reuge Music Boxes
- Film: Redefining the Western?
- The Big Combo is a Thriller Full of Surprises
7 Comments
Post a CommentGood article.
Not into westerns but well written article
I like him a lot!! He had a sinister quality that made him perfect for those parts!!
I'm not a western movie gal, but good article :)
Never heard of him, westerns aren't really my thing
Nice recap of his life. He truly did look and act the part of a cowboy in the movies.
My husband likes him too.