Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 â December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, particularly the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy films For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).
Van Cleef took his high school diploma early, at 17-years-old, so that he could enlist in the United States Navy in 1942. After basic training he attended the Naval Fleet Sound School where he trained as a sonarman. Van Cleef was first assigned to submarine chaser USS SC-681 and spent the next 10 months looking for German U-boats around the Caribbean. He then joined USS Incredible, a minesweeper of 530 tons.
One of the most dangerous moments for him happened during the invasion of southern France, in which the USS Incredible was attacked by numerous German Human Torpedoes. Van Cleef found himself in a life-threatening position though his courage and skill not only saved him but he was also awarded the Bronze Star for his service.
From January 1945, the minesweeper operated out of the Soviet base at Sevastapol, Crimea, to clear mines in the Black Sea. Next stop for the USS Incredible was Palermo, Sicily and then Norfolk â before finally reaching Pearl Harbor.
Van Cleefâs active military challenges ended in 1946 and he was honored with a minesweeping insignia and SO1 (Sonarman First Class). He was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American-Pacific Medal, the World War II Victory Medal as well as the Good Conduct Medal.
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