Happy Birthday, Lee Van Cleef
10January 9, 2015 by Laird
Gone, but not forgotten. Right in there with Clint Eastwood, James Coburn, and Lee Marvin among the heavyweight hard cases of classic cinema. You would’ve been 90 today. Instead, you’re immortal.
Lee Van Cleef: 1925-1989
Lee was the best thing (next to the immortal score) about Leone’s classic spaghetti western, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” Van Cleef’s Goldilocks performance,exhibited perfect understated malice, which trumped Wallach’s heated overacting and Eastwood’s “to cool for school” cold porridge performance. Lee was cool without being cold and warm without being hot. Memorable.
I miss the guy.
Oh yes Lee was hot! That magnificent face, body and voice; he was a natural. He could accomplish being cool and hot at the same time. No one can every take his place; he
was a cinematic powerhouse.
My first exposure to LVC was “Escape From New York.” What a fantastic villain.
He was always entertaining.
I know it’s trite to say (and not very grammatically sound), but they truly don’t make them like they used to.
Nah, they don’t.
Lee Van Cleef was exceptional.
I’ve been a fan ever since I saw him in “Commandos” and “Sabata” all those years ago. He would have made just perfect Jonah Koenig.
I would have loved that.
Reblogged this on Weird Tales of Shawngeri.