Lee Van Cleef
American actor (1925–1989)
- Fame59.3
- Momentum0.0
- Actors rank#214
Source-basedStable
- Fame59.3
- Momentum0.0
- Actors rank#214
- Wikipedia86.1K
Lived 1925–1989, aged 64United States
United StatesSummary
Updated 2026-06-09
The gaunt outlaw from High Noon who spent a decade playing forgettable heavies until Sergio Leone handed him a squint, a poncho, and co-billing opposite Clint Eastwood—turning a B-movie journeyman into the coldest face in spaghetti Westerns.
Biography
About
Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. earned a Bronze Star aboard a Navy minesweeper in World War II, then drifted through regional theatre before landing a wordless outlaw bit in High Noon in 1952. His angular features locked him into villain roles across Westerns and noir through the fifties and early sixties, a career starting to fade after a serious car crash. Leone's For a Few Dollars More in 1965 gave him the co-lead, and suddenly the journeyman was a star. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly followed in 1966, then a decade-long run through European Westerns—The Big Gundown, Day of Anger, Sabata, Barq…
Gallery
Photos
8 images · refresh overdue
Deep cuts
Filmography
Low confidence
Deep cuts
TV credits
Low confidence
Deep cuts
Awards
Low confidence
- Golden Boot Awards
- Bronze Star Medal
- Good Conduct Medal
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
Where to find them
Platforms
By the numbers
Score breakdown
The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Stable59.3
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical26.9
Source confidence70.0
Completeness80.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
Discover
You might know
Similar profiles worth watching
.jpg?width=1200)
.jpg?width=1200)
