From there, he continued to meet with the group and audition for parts. Bronze StarĪfter leaving the Navy, Van Cleef received his first acting role as a reader for the play Our Town at the Little Theater Group in Clinton, New Jersey.

By virtue of his deployments, Van Cleef also qualified for the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He also had been awarded the Bronze Star and the Good Conduct Medal. By the time of his discharge in March 1946, he had achieved the rank of Sonarman First Class (SO1) and had earned his mine sweeper patch. Afterwards, the ship performed air-sea rescue patrols in the Black Sea before returning to Palermo, Sicily. In January 1945, Incredible moved to the Black Sea, and performed sweeping duties out of the Soviet Navy base at Sevastopol, Crimea. The ship initially patrolled the Caribbean, then moved to the Mediterranean, participating in the landings in southern France. Military service Īfter completing his military training, Van Cleef was assigned to a submarine chaser and then to a minesweeper called the USS Incredible, on which he worked as a sonarman. Lee graduated high school early at the age of 17 from Somerville High School New Jersey in order to enlist in the United States Navy in September 1942. Lee Van Cleef was born on January 9, 1925, in Somerville, New Jersey, to Marion Lavinia Van Fleet and Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef. The film proved to be a huge hit and cited him as a box-office draw, largely in Europe. However, Sergio Leone offered him a major role in For a Few Dollars More. After suffering serious injuries in a car crash, Van Cleef's acting career started to decline.

Van Cleef was often typecast as a minor villain for the majority of his career, proposedly due to his physical features. However, after declining this request he was relegated to a non-speaking outlaw cast role. In his film debut, High Noon, he was asked to have his nose altered to play a sympathetic character. (Janu– December 16, 1989) was an American actor best known for his roles in Spaghetti Westerns such as For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign MedalĬlarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr.

The lone ranger imdb parents guide