After serving in the US Navy during World War II, Lee Van Cleef was trained as an accountant. He started acting in community theater while working as an office administrator, eventually landing a role in the touring company of “Mr Roberts.” He was noticed by film director Stanley Kramer, who cast him in a nonspeaking role in “High noon.” This led to a long string of supporting roles, usually playing menacing roles in westerns both in films and on television. He rose to star status Sergio Leone’s “spaghetti westerns,” playing enigmatic characters in “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Van Cleef would make several more European-filmed westerns over the following decade, and would make a notable, atypical appearance in the science-fiction cult classic “Escape From New York.” His last role of note was playing a venerable ninja on the short-lived television series “The Master.”