The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a standout film whose cast elevated it to greatness and is the third movie in Sergio Leone’s iconic Fistful of Dollars trilogy. The trilogy began with A Fistful of Dollars in 1964 and was followed up by For A Few Dollars More the next year before culminating with 1966’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The films are part of the Spaghetti Western tradition, which was asubgenre of Westerns that used Italian teams to make American Western-genre films.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is arguably the most iconic film in the Spaghetti Western genre, as it is one that is still appreciated today. The Leone trilogy is receiving a second wind, as a remake of A Fistful of Dollars was announced earlier this year. Though divorced from the peak era of the Spaghetti Western, the remake will allow a new set of audiences to appreciate the beats of the classic film. In advance of the first film’s remake, it is fascinating to take another look at the cast of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and what happened to them after the film.
The Good: Clint Eastwood As The Man with No Name / Blondie
Born May 31, 1930
Returning to the series after A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More, Clint Eastwood continued to establish his Western career through his performance in this film. Beginning his career in the 1950s, Eastwood was already well-known for the Western genre by the time The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly rolled around, with the 1966 film only further cementing that status. Eastwood continued to act in Western films for years after The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, including the ‘60s films Coogan’s Bluff and Paint Your Wagon and later Westerns like Unforgiven.
In addition to his on-camera work, Eastwood also became a prolific Hollywood figure behind-the-scenes. Five years after appearing in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Eastwood would direct his first feature film with Play Misty for Me. He would go on to direct dozens of other movies, even winning an Oscar for Best Director in 2005 for his emotional 2004 film Million Dollar Baby. In 2023, the nonagenarian announced his official retirement from film work.
The Bad: Lee Van Cleef As Angel Eyes / Sentenza
Born January 9, 1925; Died December 16, 1989
Taking on “The Bad” persona, Lee Van Cleef stepped in to play the ruthless mercenary in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. As in the case of Eastwood, Van Cleef was no stranger to the Western genre by the time he acted in the Leone film. He also had a previous role in the Spaghetti Western trilogy, acting in For a Few Dollars More, as well as playing a role in the John Ford classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance.
After The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Van Cleef went immediately into a slew of other Spaghetti Westerns, acting in The Big Gundown, Death Rides a Horse, Day of Anger, Beyond the Law, and Sabata all between the years of 1967 and 1969. He had a prolific career playing outlaws and gunslingers, acting in nearly 200 projects throughout his career. Van Cleef passed away from a heart attack at the age of 64. Released posthumously, his final on-screen appearance was in the drama parody film Thieves of Fortune.
The Ugly: Eli Wallach As Tuco, AKA “The Rat”
Born December 7, 1915; Died June 24, 2014
Wallach’s quick-witted character provided some comic relief in the otherwise-serious The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Unlike Eastwood and Van Cleef, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was Wallach’s Leone trilogy debut, as the actor had been reportedly convinced to play the role after Leone showed him the opening sequence of For A Few Dollars More. By the time he acted in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Wallach was already infamous for his Method acting style and his iconic roles as a character actor. After the Leone film, Wallach took on another Spaghetti Western when he played Cat Stevens in Ace High.
Though Wallach did not stay strictly in the Western and Spaghetti Western genres, his characters did exist mostly within the genre film sphere. These parts ranged from thrillers such as The Deep to action-caper films like Firepower. Wallach continued acting throughout his twilight years and was given an Honorary Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 2011 Governers’ Awards. His last feature film appearance before his 2014 death was in 2010’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’s Supporting Cast And Characters
Wallach, Eastwood, and Van Cleef Grounded The Film
The eponymous trio of “The Good,” “The Bad,” and “The Ugly” were the central players in the Spaghetti Western film. They received the vast majority of the movie’s screen time, and the tensions and collaborations among the members of the main trio amount to the vast majority of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’s plot. That said, the film has a couple of supporting characters that contribute to parts of the film and have their own acting legacies.
Antonio Casas plays Stevens, a former Confederate soldier, in the film. Born in Spain, Casas began his professional career as a soccer player before transitioning to acting in 1942. The actor played parts in a number of Spanish-language films prior to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and followed up his Leone film role with parts in The Big Gundown, The Young Rebel, and The Magnificent Tony Carrera. Casas acted in nearly 200 projects, all the way up until his death in 1982.
Other supporting actors in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly included Aldo Giuffrè as Union Captain Clinton, Luigi Pistilli as Father Pablo Ramirez, and Rada Rassimov as Maria. Unlike Casas and the Hollywood acting trio at the core of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Giuffrè, Pistilli, and Rassimov were all Italian-born actors. Pistilli had previously worked with Leone in For a Few Dollars More, and spent the rest of his career acting primarily in Italian-language works. He tragically passed away from suicide in 1996, at the age of 66.
Giuffrè was born in Naples in 1924, and had a career that included over 100 roles. After The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Giuffrè’s roles included Ghosts, Italian Style and When Women Had Tails. He retired from acting in 2004 before passing away in 2010. As for Rassimov, the actor is still alive today, but retired from her acting career in 2003. As in the case of Pastilli, her later works also included predominantly Italian-language titles.