Donald Sutherland, the actor best known for his roles in Don’t Look Now and The Hunger Games, has died aged 88.
With a career dating back to the 1950s, he is widely regarded as one of the most versatile and respected actors, winning numerous prestigious awards for his work in both film and television.
His son Kiefer Sutherland, also an actor, announced on X earlier this evening (June 20) that his father had passed away. He reportedly died in Miami from a long illness.
The statement read: “With a heavy heart I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away. I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film.
“Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly,” he continued. “He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”
With a heavy heart, I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away. I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film. Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more… pic.twitter.com/3EdJB03KKT
— Kiefer Sutherland (@RealKiefer) June 20, 2024
The Canadian actor, born in New Brunswick on July 17, 1935, graduated from Victoria University with a double major in engineering and drama. He moved to London in 1957 to pursue an acting career after spending a short time working as a news reporter for his local radio station.
While in the UK, he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, before going on to appear in several British films and television shows, including The Sentimental Agent and Gideon’s Way.
In the early 1970s, Sutherland appeared in a number of films including Robert Altman’s war comedy film M*A*S*H, playing “Hawkeye” Pierce, starring alongside Gene Wilder in Start The Revolution Without Me, and opposite Jane Fonda in the Oscar-winning Klute.
Sutherland was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor for his leading role in the psychological horror film Don’t Look Now (1973), appearing alongside Julie Christie.
Sutherland’s impressive list of acting credits span right through to the 2020s, having played a variety of roles from a physician to an intelligence officer to a snobby art dealer, starring alongside actors including Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Marlon Brando and Susan Sarandon.
He co-starred with his son Kiefer in Joel Schumaker’s 1996 legal drama A Time To Kill, starring Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey and Sandra Bullock.
In the early 2000s, he starred opposite Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones in Space Cowboys, played Reverend Monroe in Civil War drama Cold Mountain and portrayed the loving but stern Mr. Bennet, father of Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth, in Pride And Prejudice in 2005.
In 2012, Sutherland gained recognition for his role as the antagonist President Snow in The Hunger Games, and the subsequent instalments in the franchise.
His more recent work has included the 2019 Brad Pitt sci-fi Ad Astra, the 2019 miniseries starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman, The Undoing, and the 2022 Stephen King adaptation, Mr.Harrigan’s Phone.
In 2017, Sutherland received an Honorary Oscar “for a lifetime of indelible character, rendered with unwavering truthfulness.”
He is survived by his wife and five children, who include the actor Rossif Sutherland and the producer Angus Sutherland.