Notorious Western film villian Lee Van Cleef was born Clarence Leroy Van Cleef Jr. in Somerville, New Jersey to Marion Lavinia Gilbert Van Fleet and Clarence Leroy Van Cleef Sr. on January 9, 1925. Van Cleef attended Somerville High School before dropping out in order to elist in the United States Nacy in 1942. He worked as a sonarman on the U. S. S. Incredible in Mediterranean Sea, before moving to sweeping seabeds near Russia.