Biography
While Donald Sutherland was born and raised in Canada, he didn't truly find his true calling until he moved to the United Kingdom when he was in his early 20s. Acting was a part of his Canadian childhood, but he spent most of his time studying to become an engineer. That changed once he got to London in the late 1950s. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which led to a number of appearances in British media, including the horror flick "The Castle of the Living Dead" (1964) and an adaptation of "A Farewell to Arms" (1966). His breakout performance was in the award-winning ensemble war film "The Dirty Dozen" (1967), which segued nicely into his next notable roles as Hawkeye in Robert Altman's "MASH" (1970) and Oddball in "Kelly's Heroes" (1970). Sutherland became a star during the '70s, appearing in everything from the psychological thriller "Don't Look Now" (1973) to Bernardo Bertolucci's epic "1900" (1976). He also opened himself up to a different generation of viewers with his role as a professor in "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978). To kick off the '80s, Sutherland received acclaim for his performance alongside Mary Tyler Moore in the Oscar-winning drama "Ordinary People" (1980). He continued to appear in a variety of projects, including the apartheid drama "A Dry White Season" (1989) and the Kurt Russell-starring thriller "Backdraft" (1990). Memorable turns in Oliver Stone's "JFK" (1991) and the original film version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1992) peppered the early '90s for Sutherland. For his role in HBO's "Citizen X" (1995), Sutherland earned multiple awards, including an Emmy. He closed out the decade with appearances in "Outbreak" (1995), "Without Limits" (1998), and "A Time to Kill" (1996), the latter of which was one of the rare times when Sutherland appeared in a work alongside his son Kiefer. In the 2000s, he appeared in the remake of "The Italian Job" (2003) as well as in the Keira Knightley-starring adaptation of "Pride & Prejudice" (2005). In 2012, he began performing one of the most notable roles of his late-stage career, appearing as the villainous President Snow in "The Hunger Games" (2012), going on to reprise the role in the complete four-film franchise. By the time "The Hunger Games" wrapped up, Sutherland was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2017 for his multi-decade career. Even as he entered his 80s, Sutherland did not slow down, starring in Danny Boyle's "Trust" (FX 2018) and appearing alongside Brad Pitt in "Ad Astra" (2019). Donald Sutherland died on June 20, 2024 in Miami, FL at the age of 88.
