"Bad guys have always been my bag," Van Cleef said. "I look mean without even trying. Audiences just naturally hate me on screen. I could play a role in a tuxedo and people would think I was rotten. You can do much more with a villain part. Movies are full of leading men, most of whom aren't working. It's much harder to find a good villain."
We have a theory that there is (or was) a Western Bad Boy School -- Lee Van Cleef and Bruce Dern are the head professors. Robert J. Wilke and Jack Elam take their turns teaching, when they're not on set.
They give classes on Grimacing, Threatening, Looking Menacing, Laughing Evilly and How to Draw Your Gun Quickly - And Get Shot, Anyways. Warren Oates heads up the Stupid & Vicious subdivision.
Graduates get special training in How to Appear to Be A Different Person -- even when they're featured in three or four episodes of the same show. John Anderson is the champ on this, appearing as everyone from a plain old ne're-do-well and near-blind ex-con, including a shining moment as Lucas McCain's former father-in-law, on The Rifleman...without being recognized!
" I'm not angry because I'm not the leading man. Whatever they give me to do, I do. I don't want to be typed but I have learned a lesson in patience and resignation. If it's an anti-hero they want, I'm more than happy to oblige."
--Warren Oates
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