Here's a short and sadly pretty boring interview with Lee done for the Italian debut of The Master from a TV magazine. But, hey, at least you get a photo of him wearing a gold chain! (translation below)
Still tall, a little less thin, with very little hair left, now all white, Lee Van Cleef, the "meanest" villain of many Western films, has lost some of that tough-guy look that made him an actor no producer would ever have dared offer, say, the role of the good father.
Like many of his colleagues from the big screen, Lee has moved to the other side of the barricade: television. And for TV he filmed the series The Master which, after achieving great success in America, has also arrived here (Canale 5 airs it on Fridays at 8:30 PM).
In The Master, for the first time, Lee Van Cleef is not a cruel gunslinger, but a man in search of his inner peace who, against his will, is hunted by a secret Japanese sect, the Ninjas, who want him dead.
Still an action role, then.
Yes, still an action role, but this time on the "right" side.
How did you find yourself in the role of "the good"?
You'd like me to say I felt uncomfortable, wouldn't you? But no. After all, after so many films in which I lived with a gun in my hand, shooting left and right at sheriffs and Indians, a positive role gave me a burst of energy. It was a bit like starting over.
Speaking of starting over: you've come back to work after quite a long absence...
Yes, that's true, for the past couple of years I've slacked off a bit. But then again, what can I say, I'm not a kid anymore, I'm 61, and I think I can afford it.
But what do you do when you're not working?
I invent new dishes. Yes, a few years ago I discovered a passion for cooking, and you have no idea how relaxing it is for me to get in there, among the pots and pans, and mess around.
And how are the results?
At least according to the friends who come to eat at my place, good. As for me, even though I try to be very objective, I don't think I really am.
Very little is known about your private life...
Go ahead and say that absolutely nothing is known.
OK, nothing is known. Would you like to tell me something?
No. Believe me, it's not rudeness on my part. The fact is that deep down I am not an actor, with all the obligations that this job entails. I'm a man like everyone else, with a private life that I want to remain "private". In so many years of career, I have never deviated from this principle. You don't expect me to start now!
To be honest, I would like to ask more, but I hold back because, suddenly, Lee Van Cleef’s face has once again dangerously begun to resemble that of a gunslinger...
- BY ROBERTA SPARANO
Above, a close-up of Lee Van Cleef, and, on the right, the actor as we see him in "The Master". Van Cleef is 61 years old.
Source: Nuova Guida TV, 13 July 1986