[2] Cliff was born in Swainsboro, Georgia,[1][2] where his father was running a minstrel show,[2] He moved to California, where worked as a laborer in film studios.

[2] During the war he served in the United States Army Air Force, reaching the rank of captain.

His film appearances included Frenchie (1950), Best of the Badmen (1951),[3] Siege at Red River (1954), The Second Greatest Sex (1955), The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), The Midnight Story (1957), Period of Adjustment and Never a Dull Moment (1968).

[4] His television appearances included Wagon Train, 77 Sunset Strip, Tales of Wells Fargo, Maverick, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Virginian, The Deputy, Man with a Camera and Perry Mason.

[5] Cliff retired from acting in the 1970s, last appearing in the action and adventure television series Kung Fu, and worked as a real estate agent until 1986.