History Creator / LeeVanCleef

[[FountainOfExpies Characters based on Van Cleef's appearance and/or the type of character]] he tended to play include [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Revolver Ocelot]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Old Snake]], [[Literature/HisDarkMaterials Lee Scoresby]], [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Cad Bane]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Rango}} Rattlesnake Jake]], [[{{Series/Firefly}} Jayne Cobb]], [[Film/ShanghaiNoon Marshall Nathan]] [[ShoutOut Van Cleef]], [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Edwin Vancleef]], [[ComicBook/LuckyLuke Elliot Belt]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Skull Face]], and [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption Dutch van der Linde]].

Van Cleef's health began to decline in the late-1970s as he started suffering from heart disease, but in spite of this he continued his work as actor until his death. He eventually passed away from heart attack (with throat cancer listed as a secondary cause) in December 1989, at the age of 64.

* ''Film/HighNoon''
* ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms''
* ''Film/{{Tumbleweed}}''
* ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld''
* ''Film/TheBravados''
* ''Film/HowTheWestWasWon''
* ''Film/TheManWhoShotLibertyValance''
* ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore''
* ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''
* ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''
* ''Series/MasterNinja''
* ''Film/TheSabataTrilogy'' (In the first and third films of the trilogy)
* ''Film/AlDiLaDellaLegge''
* ''Film/TheGrandDuel''
* ''Film/DeathRidesAHorse'' (He preferred the Italian title, ''From Man to Man'')
* ''Film/GodsGun''
* ''Film/ArmedResponse''
* ''Film/ThievesOfFortune'' (His last film appearance)

* RedRightHand: If you look carefully in close ups of his quick-draw hand, you'll see Van Cleef is missing the tip of one finger, which he lost building a wooden dolls' house for his daughter.

!!This actor provides examples of:
%%* DeathGlare
* {{Fingore}}: He lost a piece of his finger building a playhouse for his daughter. The theme song of the second ''Film/{{Sabata}}'' movie actually acknowledged this fact in its lyrics:
--> [[https://songsear.ch/song/Marcello-Giombini/Return-of-Sabata/1678535 Nine fingered man, four barreled derringer: Sabata!]]
* SmokingIsCool: Expect him to smoke a ciggie in plenty of his Western-themed films.
* VillainousCheekbones: His hawkish features meant he was cast as a lot of villains. Averted with Colonel Mortimer in ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore''.
* WouldntHitAGirl: While his character in ''The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'' ruthlessly beats a hooker for information, Van Cleef refused to even stage slap her and had a stuntman perform the scene.

* PlayingAgainstType: He played a HotBlooded AntiVillain in ''Film/TheBravados''.

* {{Fingore}}: He lost a piece of his finger building a playhouse for his daughter.
%%* SmokingIsCool

* BadassMustache: So badass, his appearance was the inspiration for [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Revolver Ocelot]].
* DeathGlare

* [[SmokingIsCool Pipe Smoking Is Cool]]

One of the first faces to come to mind when you think of the phrase "[[TheWestern western]] villain", Clarence Leroy Van Cleef (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) began acting in theater, playing small off-Broadway roles until he was cast in a touring company of ''Literature/MisterRoberts''. From there, Van Cleef started out in film as one of the villain's henchmen in ''Film/HighNoon'' (a bit part he apparently got because the director thought he had an evil-looking face) and went on playing {{mook}}s in various westerns and films noirs during the 1950s. Then his career gradually fizzled out, partly because he'd injured his leg badly in a car accident but likely also because he had a drinking problem. In the mid-60s, Creator/SergioLeone resurrected Van Cleef's career by giving him major supporting roles in ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' and ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', which brought him to stardom in Europe. He continued to star in [[SpaghettiWestern spaghetti westerns]] for much of his subsequent career.

Van Cleef reportedly claimed to be [[QuickDraw faster on the draw]] than Creator/ClintEastwood in real life. A sequence at the climax of ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' shows him drawing, cocking and firing a gun in three frames of footage, which translates to roughly one-eighth of a second. He's also one of relatively few actors to appear in more than one movie on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' (he was in both ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'' and ''Series/MasterNinja'', the two 'movies' both being riffed on). He was [[RedRightHand missing the tip of his middle finger on his right hand]], as a result of an attempt to make a playhouse for one of his daughters.

Of course, while he's most known for playing the main antagonist of ''The Good, the Bad And the Ugly'', he's also played heroic (or at least sympathetic) characters on more than a few occasions, including ''For a Few Dollars More'' and most of the other spaghetti westerns he appeared in.

[[quoteright:331:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vancleef_9162.jpg]]

One of the first faces that come to mind when you think of the phrase "[[TheWestern western]] villain". Clarence Leroy Van Cleef (January 9, 1925 - December 16, 1989) began acting in theater, playing small off-Broadway roles until he was cast in a touring company of ''Literature/MisterRoberts''. From there, Van Cleef started out in film as one of the villain's henchmen in ''Film/HighNoon'' (a bit part he apparently got because the director thought he had an evil-looking face) and went on playing {{mook}}s in various westerns and films noirs during the 1950s. Then his career gradually fizzled out, partly because he'd injured his leg badly in a car accident but likely also because he had a drinking problem. In the mid-60s, Creator/SergioLeone resurrected Van Cleef's career by giving him major supporting roles in ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' and ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', which brought him to stardom in Europe. He continued to star in [[SpaghettiWestern spaghetti westerns]] for much of his subsequent career.

Van Cleef reportedly claimed to be [[QuickDraw faster on the draw]] than Creator/ClintEastwood in real life. A sequence at the climax of Film/ForAFewDollarsMore shows him drawing, cocking and firing a gun in three frames of footage, which translates to roughly one-eighth of a second. He's also one of relatively few actors to appear in more than one movie on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' (he was in both ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'' and ''Series/MasterNinja'', the two 'movies' both being riffed on). He was [[RedRightHand missing the tip of his middle finger on his right hand]], as a result of an attempt to make a playhouse for one of his daughters.

Van Cleef reportedly claimed to be [[QuickDraw faster on the draw]] than Creator/ClintEastwood in real life. A sequence at the climax of Film/ForAFewDollarsMore shows him drawing, cocking and firing a gun in three frames of footage, which translates to roughly one-eighth of a second. He's also one of relatively few actors to appear in more than one movie on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' (he was in both ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'' and ''Series/MasterNinja'', the two 'movies' both being riffed on). He was [[RedRightHand missing most of his middle finger on his right hand]], as a result of an attempt to make a playhouse for one of his daughters.

One of the first faces that come to mind when you think of the phrase "[[TheWestern western]] villain". Clarence Leroy Van Cleef (January 9, 1925 - December 16, 1989) began acting in theater, playing small off-Broadway roles until he was cast in a touring company of ''Literature/MisterRoberts''. From there, Van Cleef started out in film as one of the villain's henchmen in ''HighNoon'' (a bit part he apparently got because the director thought he had an evil-looking face) and went on playing {{mook}}s in various westerns and films noirs during the 1950s. Then his career gradually fizzled out, partly because he'd injured his leg badly in a car accident but likely also because he had a drinking problem. In the mid-60s, Creator/SergioLeone resurrected Van Cleef's career by giving him major supporting roles in ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' and ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', which brought him to stardom in Europe. He continued to star in [[SpaghettiWestern spaghetti westerns]] for much of his subsequent career.

[[FountainOfExpies Characters based on Van Cleef's appearance and/or the type of character]] he tended to play include [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Revolver Ocelot]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Old Snake]], [[Literature/HisDarkMaterials Lee Scoresby]], [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Cad Bane]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Rango}} Rattlesnake Jake]], [[{{Series/Firefly}} Jayne Cobb]], [[Film/ShanghaiNoon Marshall Nathan]] [[ShoutOut Van Cleef]], [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Edwin Vancleef]], [[ComicBook/LuckyLuke Elliot Belt]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Skull Face]], and [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Cad Bane]].

[[FountainOfExpies Characters based on Van Cleef's appearance and/or the type of character]] he tended to play include [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Revolver Ocelot]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Old Snake]], [[Literature/HisDarkMaterials Lee Scoresby]], [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars Cad Bane]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Rango}} Rattlesnake Jake]], [[{{Series/Firefly}} Jayne Cobb]], [[Film/ShanghaiNoon Marshall Nathan]] [[ShoutOut Van Cleef]], [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Edwin Vancleef]], [[ComicBook/LuckyLuke Elliot Belt]] and [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Skull Face]].

* ''Film/DiamanteLobo''

One of the first faces that come to mind when you think of the phrase "[[TheWestern western]] villain". Clarence Leroy Van Cleef (January 9, 1925 - December 16, 1989) started out as one of the villain's henchmen in ''HighNoon'' (a bit part he apparently got because the director thought he had an evil-looking face) and went on playing {{mook}}s in various westerns and films noirs during the 1950s. Then his career gradually fizzled out, partly because he'd injured his leg badly in a car accident but likely also because he had a drinking problem. In the mid-60s, Creator/SergioLeone resurrected Van Cleef's career by giving him major supporting roles in ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' and ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', which brought him to stardom in Europe. He continued to star in [[SpaghettiWestern spaghetti westerns]] for much of his subsequent career.

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: Van Cleef became known as the archetypical cold and brooding guy in Western. In real life he was devoted to his family, and had an enduring friendship with his Italian stuntman Romano Puppo, who was one of his pallbearers, and he once accidentally sawed off his finger joint ''building a playhouse for his daughter''.

* BadassMustache: So badass, his appearance was the inspiration for [[MetalGearSolid Revolver Ocelot]].

->"I came into this town in a stage play called ''Literature/MisterRoberts''. Stanley Kramer saw it and put me in a picture called ''HighNoon''. The first time I went into his office he told me to go fix my nose and I told him to go fuck himself.

->A lot of actors think that the more words they have, the more attention they get. That's bullshit. I make people ''look'' at me. I don't have to say a lot of words."

->[[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly "But you know the pity is when I'm paid, I always follow my job through. You know that."]]