Lean, cool character player whose angular features marked him as a villain and who found his fortune as the hero of "spaghetti westerns" such as "For a Few Dollars More" (1965) and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1967).
Family
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Father: Clarence Van Cleef.
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Mother: Marion Van Cleef.
Milestones
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1942 Employed as farm worker in New Jersey
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1952 Film debut, "High Noon"
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After service in the Navy during WWII, joined a little theater group, was discovered by director Joshua Logan who cast him in stage production of "Mister Roberts"; went directly to films