Legendary actor Donald Sutherland has passed away at the age of 88, it has been confirmed. The prolific star of the big and small screen, who amassed almost 200 acting credits over the course of a remarkable career spanning over half a century, died on Thursday after a long illness.
In a statement sharing the tragic news of his father's passing, Donald's son and fellow actor Kiefer Sutherland shared the following: "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 than that. A life well lived."
A life well lived, indeed. Born on 17 July, 1935, in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, Donald McNichol Sutherland graduated from Victoria University with a double major in engineering and drama. In 1957, Sutherland ditched the engineering to follow his calling as an actor, leaving Canada for Britain to study at LAMDA. It was a bold move that proved wise; over the decade that followed Sutherland picked up parts in British TV staples The Avengers and The Saint, as well as making memorable appearances in B-Movie horror flicks like Hammer's Fanatic, Amicus anthology offering Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors, and Christopher Lee star vehicle Castle Of The Living Dead.
A staunch, lifelong anti-war activist, Sutherland's big break came as Private Vernon Pinkley in Robert Aldrich's classic 1967 war movie The Dirty Dozen. The success of Aldrich's film would directly lead to starring roles for Sutherland in two further war projects — Robert Altman's Palme d'Or-winning 1970 anti-Vietnam dark comedy M*A*S*H, and the Clint Eastwood-starring WWII satirical heist picture Kelly's Heroes. In the former, Sutherland indelibly brought to life the heinously rule-averse, practical joke playing captain-surgeon Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce; in the latter we see him at the peak of his comedic powers playing goofy hippie tank commander Oddball.
From there, Sutherland went on to shine in a dizzying array of wildly diverse films. He was great opposite Jane Fonda as a detective out to catch a killer in Alan J Pakula's smouldering, noir inflected crime-thriller Klute in 1971; in Nic Roeg's seminal 1973 chiller Don't Look Now he put in a remarkable performance as a grief-stricken father stuck in existential purgatory; and in 1976, the always busy, always booked actor put in a trifecta of terrific turns in Bernardo Bertolucci's historical epic 1900, Federico Fellini's Casanova (in which he played the lead), and John Sturgess' British war great The Eagle Has Landed.
In the decades that followed, Donald Sutherland's resume of eye-catching turns in broad-ranging genre pictures grew and grew. To even try and single out pictures in a career packed with memorable movies — National Lampoon's Animal House, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Ordinary People, JFK, A Time To Kill (in which Sutherland stars alongside son Kiefer), Lord Of War, Pride & Prejudice to name just a few — is something of a folly, and that's without even digging deeper into his work on the box in shows like The Undoing, Trust, and Crossing Lines. But to a whole new generation of cinema lovers, Sutherland will surely be remembered best for his spectacular work across The Hunger Games franchise. As the cold, calculating, imperious, and darkly charismatic President Snow, Sutherland alternatingly charmed, terrified, and beguiled cinemagoers, bringing extraordinary gravitas to the hit franchise whilst creating in the process one of the 21st century's most hissable screen villains. That the character of Coriolanus Snow has since gone on to be explored further with prequel The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes is doubtless thanks, in no small part, to the depth Sutherland brought to his portrayal on-screen.
Right up until his passing, Sutherland continued to work at a prodigious rate on a characteristically unpredictable slate of projects, appearing in blockbusters like Moonfall, lending his voice to an albino crocodile in animated offering Ozi: Voice Of The Forest, and cutting a commanding figure in Lawmen: Bass Reeves opposite David Oyelowo. Post-apocalyptic thriller Heart Land, which was in pre-production at the time of Sutherland's death, would've marked the acting veteran's 200th acting appearance.
This November, Donald Sutherland's memoir, Made Up, But Still True, is set to release, offering fans the chance to hear the legend's story in his own words. And as the book closes on the life of one of cinema's true greats, it's a hell of a story he has written. Donald Sutherland was a formidable talent and a real champion of this medium we all love so dearly. He will be missed greatly, and our thoughts are with his friends, family, and loved ones at this time.